Memory Loss
by Valledorthedragon
Summary: He wakes up without a single memory in an alleyway, beaten and hurt. A girl is with him when he wakes. Looking at the moon, he remembers one thing- his name, Jack. But everything else is gone. Will he ever remember who he was? And if he does get that chance will he want to remember at all?
1. Chapter 1

Memory loss chapter 1  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: Hey! I'm back! It was so weird not having to post or reply to reviews or anything and that was only for a few days hehe it feels good to be back^^ anyway here we are with a new story! Ooooooh.. Well I won't keep you from it any longer I hope you enjoy this starter^^ please review (Ive missed hearing from you guys) and I will see you tommorow with the next chapter^^ see you then!**

Thoughts slowly stirred in his head. What?... Where was he?... What was going on? He could feel the cold, hard ground underneath his skin. How had he ended up here? Why did everything ache? The throbbing in his head was almost unbearable. Perhaps it would be better if he went back to that peaceful darkness.

He almost slipped back into unconsciousness, but a voice broke through his mind. He could hear the light tones of a female voice. She sounded panicked, and worried. Was she alright? Was she in pain, like he was? Did he know her? A sudden thought hit him.

Who was he?... He didn't know.

He couldn't remember. All the past- (wait- how old was he? He had no idea). The past (insert age here) years of his life were gone. He heard the voice again. If she knew him, perhaps she could tell him who he was.

Forcing his tired, aching body into action, he stirred. With great effort, he opened his eyes.

A big, blurry world was all he could see. He blinked and his vision cleared a little, just enough for him to make out vague shapes. Was this a street? No, there were no cars, an alley then? That looked right, but what was he doing passed out in an alleyway.

Summoning his strength, he pushed against the floor, trying to get himself into a sitting position. Lifting his head, he noticed the girl he'd heard sitting in front of him. He saw a blurred arm reach out and hold his shoulder.  
"Are you alright? What happened? Are you hurt? Were you attacked? Was it ruffians? Thugs? Are they still here?..." She asked bordering hysteria, she was speaking quicker and more terrified with each question.

As she spoke, he managed to get into sitting position, his face scrunched up in pain from the pounding in his head. He felt awful, but as he sat upright, his vision finally focussed, and he saw the girl, properly, for the first time.

She was a young girl of about sixteen, long, golden blond hair ran down her back. She was wearing a pretty pinky purple dress, but he didn't really take in any of that. All he noticed was the terror in her emerald green eyes, wide and round in fear.

Her endless parade of questions continued, making her more and more worked up as she asked them. He needed answers. He needed to know who he was. But, right now, he needed to help her.

"Woah hey, hey, calm down. Everything's going to be fine." He didn't know how he could say that having just woken up with no idea where or even who he was. Even hearing his own voice didn't sound right- like hearing a stranger's voice. He didn't even recognise his own voice.

Trying not to panic, for the girls sake, he took her trembling hand and looked right at her.  
"It's alright." He said, reassuringly. It seemed to do the trick, she relaxed a little.  
"Sorry." She muttered. "I'm supposed to be telling you everything's ok." She looked a little disappointed with herself, and decided to start over. "What's your name?" He opened his mouth, straining his mind though his empty memories to find something, anything, that might tell him who he was. He looked behind her, not really looking, lost in his empty, fruitless memory search- suddenly, his gaze fell upon the moon, and somehow, he found he knew the answer.

"Jack." He said, wishing he knew more. She frowned a little.  
"Jack what?" She asked. He strained his memory, hoping for another sudden revelation, but none came. He shook his head.  
"I don't know." She obviously thought he had concussion or something.  
"Do you know what happened?" She asked him. Jack looked at her.  
"I was hoping you could tell me." He admitted, her eyes fell.  
"I don't know." She replied- well that makes two of them, Jack thought, absentmindedly.

"I was just walking to my house, my friends dropped me off nearby, and, I just saw you on the floor and went to see if you were ok." She finished.  
"So you don't know me." Jack said. She shook her head, she didn't know who he was.

He tried not to look too crestfallen, but she noticed.  
"What's wrong?" She queried, concerned.  
"I just... I was kind of hoping you could tell me who I am, because I have absolutely no idea. I can't remember anything." He replied, she looked worried now.  
"Perhaps you hit your head?" She suggested.  
"It is sore." He admitted.  
"Then you should remember, it's probably just concussion or something." She said, hopefully. Jack nodded, he dearly hoped so.

A particularly nasty throb made him put a hand up to his head.  
"Are you hurt?" The girl asked.  
"Headache." He replied. "Well, everything ache, really." She bit her lip, and twirled a finger in her hair like the was teetering on a decision. She grasped a handful of her hair, but before he could ask what she was doing, the sound of rising sirens caught his attention. Looking somewhat relieved, she dropped her hair.

"I called an ambulance, just in case you needed help." He nodded as the luminous yellow van halted by the open alleyway. He squinted at the lights and made out two, also luminous, figures coming towards them.

The girl got up to inform them on the situation. It was only then he appreciated just how long her hair was, it dragged behind her as she walked.

Once she'd filled the paramedics in on what had happened, they came over to him.

One of them, a lady, spoke to him, whilst her male companion used a bunch of weird looking equipment to examine him.  
"Alright, Jack. My name's Ellie, I'm just here to make sure your ok, alright?" She talked rather slowly, and overly calm- which perhaps was useful for other people, but he just found it annoying. He considered playing a brainless idiot, that could barely lift his hand, but that would just cause further complications, so he nodded like he understood.

"Alright, now this young lady says you're suffering from a bit of memory loss, is that right?" He nodded again. "Right, so can you remember anything? Anything at all?" She asked, he tried again to remember anything, and again, recieved nothing.  
"Just my name, Jack." He answered.  
"No surname?Relatives?"

Relatives. That was something he hadn't thought about, was someone looking for him. He strained his memory... yet again, nothing. He shook his head.  
"No." He told her.  
"Alright we're just gonna check a few more things, then I think we'll take you back to the hospital, if that's ok." He really didn't want to go to the hospital, but he knew there was no arguing with her. He sighed, and let them carry on with their examination.

He saw a woman fussing over the girl who'd helped him.  
"...saw the ambulance... didn't know what had happened! I told you to come straight into the house! I've warned you. People are dangerous." She scolded.  
"But mother! He was knocked out, he was hurt!" She explained.  
"And how do you think he got that way? What if the people who did that came back? You could have been killed!" She continued. Talk about an overprotective mother, Jack thought, but he could tell the poor girl believed every word- she was looking terrified again.

"Alright, that's all for now. Do you think you can stand?" The paramedic asked him. In response, he heaved his weight upwards as he set his feet on the ground, and stood. It was painful. Really painful. But he could do it.  
His first step would have landed him back on the floor, if the paramedic hadn't caught him. Cursing his weakness and aching limbs, he let the woman support him as they made their way to the waiting ambulance.

The girl saw them moving, and though he couldn't see her, he heard her pleas to her mother.  
"He's going to the hospital. Can I go and sit with him, mother, please?" She pleaded.  
"No, you are not going anywhere with a bunch of strangers." Her mother said firmly.  
"Well, then... can I at least go and visit him? Tomorrow, maybe?" She asked.  
"You are not going to any hospital, and that is final." The woman snapped. Jack turned round, and the last he saw of her, was her getting pulled into her house.

She'd gone through all that trouble for him, and now he doubted he'd ever see her again. He wished she could have come to the hospital with him, he would have appreciated at least one familiar face- even if they had only met a few minutes ago.

As he climbed into the back of the ambulance, he thought he saw her face watching him from her bedroom window, before the doors closed and blocked her from view. Then he realised something.

He never even knew her name


	2. Chapter 2

Memory loss chapter 2- A Month Later  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: hey! ^^ back with the next chapter- this one should explain a few things. I hope you enjoy it please review^^ you know it means the world to me! That's all for now though- I'll see you tommorow with the next chapter^^**

Darkness. It surrounded him. He couldn't see a thing, instead relying on instinct and hearing to move around. He stumbled blindly down a winding passageway, an exact copy of the many others he'd run through. There was a throbbing stitch in his side, but he had to keep going. Maybe if kept running one of these passages would lead to a way outside, then he might finally be free. He just had keep going, and find the right passage... before... He sensed rather than saw the figure appear in front of him, gliding out of the shadows. He halted, just avoiding slamming into the now solid figure in front of him.  
"Really now, Jack, you're beginning to annoy me with all these breakouts. Why don't you just accept that there's no way out?" The words almost hit their mark- he'd been stopped again, perhaps he would never get out of here! But then, a blazing, defiant piece of hope appeared. A permanent part of him, thanks to a close friend, that had now become a lifeline in the unknown eternity he'd been trapped here. The man must have sensed his resistance because he laughed malevolently. "Still hiding behind your precious Guardian friends, hmm? Well let me tell you, I've seen the Northern Lights go out quite a few times since you've been down here, and guess what... they've abandoned you." No they wouldn't, he thought desperately. "They've forgotten you, and they've replaced you with the next passing spirit that came by." No no, it wasn't true! "You never were one of them, Jack. They never cared about you, they were just using you." He pressed his hands against his head, trying to block out the darkness, the dreadful, endless whispering- every dark or low thought he'd ever had swamping him all at once. Yet amidst the babble, he could still make out the man's voice ringing clearly in his ears, as he strode towards him, taking clear pleasure in his terror. The muttering in his head grew louder.  
"You are mine now, Jack. There is no escape." The noise grew deafening, the flame of hope flickered and died as the darkness overwhemed him.

A hand on his shoulder jolted him to reality, and he woke with a start.  
"Jack, come on dear. Everyone else is up." A woman with a Scottish accent told him, as she opened the bedroom curtains. "Breakfast is ready, when you want come down." She said, her tone making it clear anything hot would be cold by now, and exited the room.

He sighed, it happened again. He'd been having nightmares about pretty much the same thing every night. He tried to remember what it was about: he was trying to escape, there was a man, and he was taunting him about... being trapped- no, hold on- it was dark, and then there was a man, and- wait, there was darkness and... he dumped his head back into his pillow ... darkness.

This happened every time. He never could remember what he was dreaming about, the memory faded the moment he woke.

He lay there for a moment, before distant indestinct noises caught his attention. He spotted an iPod by his pillow, tiny bursts of static were coming from the speakers. He must have fallen asleep as he was listening to the audiobook one of the nurses from when he'd been at the hospital had recommended to him.

He'd stayed at the hospital for around a week before they realised his memory just wasn't coming back. New discovery, though, the aching all over his body was because of bruises. They covered all his body, big and black. The local newspapers came up with numerous theories; he was robbed on a street, beaten, and left unconscious; he was a victim of domestic abuse, who ran away; one small newspaper even went so far as to suggest that the appearance of a kid with white hair (actual white, not pale blond white), was some sort of etherial sign. Meanwhile back in the world of reality, they were trying to find out who he was. They'd checked all local police files, but none of them reported a missing child that fit his description- and with his distinctive white hair, you could them all out immediately. So then in came social services, and- long story short, he eventually round up here.

It was difficult, finding a place for him. Not many people wanted to take in a teen of unknown age, with no memory and, oh- just to top it off- while he was at the hospital they'd discovered he was illiterate and innumerate, so he was going to be awkward at school as well.

Eventually, they did find a place willing to foster him, but before he'd left, one of the nurses ("Joy"), who'd gotten to know him quite well, recommended an audiobook for him to listen to- "The Lost Hero". The main character was also an amnesiac, a boy who woke up in the middle of nowhere. The difference being not all kids with memory loss can fly on the wind- if only they could, that would be cool. However awesome it may sound though, he wasn't about to jump off the Grand Canyon to test it out.

He looked at the screen of the iPod, it had moved on to the second book in the series overnight. Out of curiosity, he put an earphone up to his ear and listened. Apparently this one also contained a kid with memory loss, as the voice read:  
"Since he'd lost his memory, his whole life felt like one big fill-in-the-blank. He was _, from _. He felt like _ , and if the monsters caught him, he'd be _." Jack could relate. Minus the monsters part, he could have almost written it himself- if he knew how to write.

He stood up and stretched, looking at the clock. 10:56. It was the summer holidays, and the weekend to boot, so he was allowed to lie in. Still, if he just threw some clothes on, maybe he could salvage something cooked for breakfast. So with a fresh(ish) set of clothes on, he made his way downstairs.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who slept in because, as he entered the kitchen/dining room, he saw a red head sat at the table, with a bleary expression on her face.  
"Woah, Scotland. Is that your hair, or some wild animal attacking your head?" He had a point, the tangle of curls surrounding her head appeared to have a life of its own, refusing to be tamed by any comb or brush.  
"Och yeah, and what's with the angry chihuahua on your head?" She retorted, pointing a spoon at his own severe bed head.

"Merida, ladies do not point." The brunette haired woman from earlier scoffed. The mother of the house was Elinor. The only non-adopted child in the house was her daughter, Merida, and Elinor was determined to make a lady out of her. Jack highly doubted that- if Merida was a lady, he was Scottish. Still, they got on pretty well, even despite the constant bickering. All the arguing reminded him of someone, he thought... maybe... he didn't know.

Speaking of Scottish, though, Fergus- Merida's father- came in. It was from him she got her wild, red locks.  
"Och leave her be, she has wild, spirited locks of her ancestors, she does. The wild untameable hair of the family of Dunbroch." He said- as if they constantly needed reminding of the famile's heritage, their accents were proof enough that they were descended from highlanders.  
"Feet off the table, Fergus." Elinor reproached. Obviously the untameable nature of his hair didn't extend to the rest of him, because he dutifully removed his feet with a quiet "Sorry dear". Jack hadn't made it in time for a meaty breakfast, so he settled for cereal.

He'd barely sat down when the doorbell rang.  
"That'll be Rapunzel." Elinor informed, ever organised and punctual with the day's events. What she said startled him- he had a dim recollection of one of Merida's friends coming over for the day, but so soon? Then he looked up at the clock and remembered- oh yeah, they said she'd be here for eleven.

Merida quickly shoved her almost empty bowl into the sink, in preparation for the visitor.  
"Hiccup, could you get the door please." Elinor asked. A teen about the same age as the other two went to do as he was told.

He was skinny- even by Jack standards. That along with his brown hair, and green eyes, set him apart as the other child the Dunbroch's had (originally fostered, then) adopted. Again, they got on well. He didn't talk massively, but apparently away from school he never had much to do so he often just buried himself in a book, or, more often than not, his drawing pad. Jack guessed they'd adopted Hiccup to have some sort of level headed influence on Merida. If that was the case had they fostered him because they were getting bored?-because things definately got interesting if you kept the white and red heads in the same room for too long. Hiccup looked a lot more awake than the other two, having obviously got up a few hours earlier than the other teens.

A chirpy, somewhat familiar, voice accompanied the sound of the door opening and closing, and the sound of footsteps leading into the living room.

He knew that voice...

Jack shoved his untouched cereal into the bin- it was too late for breakfast, and almost lunchtime, anyway- and got up to see the new arrival.

He turned into the living room, and froze. It was her.


	3. Chapter 3

Memory loss chapter 3- The Forest  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: next chapter! Hope you enjoy it^^ can't think of much else to day here but I hope you enjoy it please review and I'll see you all tommorow with the next update! :-D**

He paused in the doorway. No way...

His appearance at the doorway caught her attention, and she noticed him. Her jaw dropped, eyes widened. Jack imagined he probably doing the same.  
"Jack?" She gasped, sounding thoroughly astounded.  
"It's you!" He said, sounding just as surprised.

A bright smile split across her face as she sprang up and leapt towards him, throwing excited arms round him. he just stood there, stunned. Somehow, even simple, friendly hugs felt like a big deal for some reason.  
"I can't believe it's actually you! How are you?"She asked.  
"Um, fine." He said, still getting over the shock of the hug. He realised, then, the rest of the room was staring at the two of them.

"Okay..." Hiccup muttered. Merida was the first to voice the question the were all thinking.  
"Do you know each other or something?" She inquired.  
"Sort of." Jack replied, truthfully, it wasn't the kind of know each other Merida meant. "She found me when I was unconscious, that night." They all knew what night of course, Merida had been wringing him for answers all week.  
"So, do you remember anything?" She asked him. She knew the answer when she saw his eyes fall at the word "remember". "It's okay though, you'll figure it out eventually." She added, optimistically. Yeah, maybe... he thought to himself, absentmindedly.

He realised he could finally ask the question he'd been wondering about ever since he last saw her.  
"What's your name?" He asked. Merida rolled her eyes, he knew they'd said it several times over the past few days but it just hadn't stuck for some reason. She pushed a loose piece of hair behind her ear, embarrassed at not having told him already.  
"Oh, Rapunzel." She told him.  
"Nice name." He said. Merida was making gagging motions behind their backs, so Hiccup cleared his throat.  
"So, ah... what do you guys wanna do?" He said. Rapunzel's face lit up like a light bulb.  
"Could we go to-"  
"The forest." Hiccup and Merida finished. Seeing Jack's baffled, yet somewhat impressed, look, Hiccup explained.  
"She's been mad about that place ever since she saw a squirrel there." Merida ran out the room.  
"Hold on, I'll just go and get mi bow." She called back.

Oh, yeah- archery was a strange little hobby of hers- she even whittled the arrows herself- and often got the boys to move the targets into a more challenging position. Jack rarely complained, he took any excuse to scale the tall trees there; whereas Hiccup took some convincing to climb them, but because it was Merida, he got there eventually.

"We could go to the tree house." Hiccup suggested. Why wasn't Jack surprised. Whenever they went to the forest, Hiccup always, without fail, went to the treehouse. Rapunzel grinned  
"Sure, I've not seen it yet." She agreed. Merida then came bowling back down.  
"Well... are we going?"

The forest was a small area of woodland around a ten minute walk from the Dunbroch's house. All of them spent a lot of time there- minus Rapunzel, or, at least, Jack couldn't remember ever seeing her there. He spent many a day just wandering through the trees, or else pestering the others to play some game with him.

It didn't take them long to tread the faniliar route to the treehouse. They reached the base of the tree which held it, and, by unspoken agreement, decided they'd hang around there for the day.

Hiccup went up the tree first. Merida stayed down to shoot some targets with her arrows. Jack soon followed Hiccup, scrambling up the tree like he'd been climbing them his whole life- then again, perhaps he had.

He got about halfway before he noticed Rapunzel was lagging behind him. Jack leaned out and shouted down.  
"Alright down there?" She looked up at him a little pale, hands white on their branches, he knew the answer. Jack swung nearer to her with two large steps.  
"Haven't you ever climbed a tree before?" He asked. She shook her head.  
"Mother doesn't let me go outside much." Jack found it hard to imagine. He lived and breathed outside- how could she not have climbed a tree before?  
"Ok, then. Why don't you try and put your foot on that?" He suggested, pointing to a nearby knot in the tree.  
"I can't." She said. "I'm scared." Those words. He knew those words. He'd heard them before- it was someone... someone he knew, someone... important to him, it... the memory faded.

He felt like banging his head against the tree. Darn it, why couldn't he remember a single, stupid, thing?!

Still, he couldn't think about that now, Rapunzel needed him.  
"Hey, it's alright..." He muttered softly. "You're not gonna fall... Tell you what?" He practically jumped a few feet to a branch beside her. "Right, now then, I'm here... and I won't let you fall. Trust me. Just reach out, and put your foot on there."

She looked at him, then, and, with a deep, steadying breath, she did it. "There you go! Now try this one." He encouraged. Again, she reached and pulled herself up onto a nearby branch. "That's it! Now the next one." He said, not even telling her where to put her foot. She found a foothold all by herself, and climbed a little higher. "See, what's there to be scared of?!" He said. She laughed happily, and reached for the next one. Jack laughed with her, and continued up to platform. He stuck his head out over the edge. "Come on, you're almost there." He shouted out, encouragingly. In no time at all, she was up there with him, doing a miniature celebration dance in joy.

The treehouse wasn't really much of a house- just a platform in a tree, with a small railing so you didn't fall off.

Rapunzel looked out over the side.  
"Wow." She marvelled, looking at the view, Jack joined her.  
"I know. Merida looks like an ant from here, doesn't she." Before she could stop him, he shouted down. "Hey Merida! You're an ant!" The red blob that was her head turned pale as she looked up. Her reply came back, moments later, muffled slightly by the distance.  
"Yeah! Well you look like a bunch of little tweety birds!" She yelled. Jack grinned, walking out onto a branch.  
"I think the correct animal you're looking for is monkey!" He called back. A flash of pink from Merida's mouth told him the response. He laughed, and scrambled up onto the higher, thinner branches.

Rapunzel watched, but he didn't come back down again.  
"Don't worry." Hiccup told her. "He always disappears up there." His voice caused her to take notice of what he was doing.  
"Oh, is this the drawing book you showed me last time?" She asked, kneeling beside him.

Unbeknownst to them, Jack wasn't as far away as they thought. He was a few branches up, listening in out of curiosity.  
"Yeah." Hiccup replied. "I've added a few more, if you wanna..." He offered, Rapunzel smiled.  
"Sure." She agreed.

Jack didn't need to move closer to know that nearly every page in that book was full of dragons. One in particular was especially common- a relatively small, panther-like, black dragon he'd named Toothless. Apparently he'd called him that because the first time he met him, he didn't appear to have any, they only appeared when he snapped up a fish he was holding out to him- or so went the story.

Hiccup had an entire books worth of story about him and those dragons. He often drew pictures, or scenes, from his invented story in his book. To him, though, the drawings weren't just drawings. Hiccup thought those dragons actually existed somewhere, and Jack could tell he secretly hoped to find the real Toothless one day.

Merida teased him for it, but Jack quite liked it. It was good he believed in something. Belief was a powerful thing, it was important. That was just the feeling he got.

Jack watched as Hiccup showed Rapunzel the latest drawings in his extensive collection, before continuing with the current one he was working on, which he'd dubbed a Deadly Nadder. After a while Rapunzel went to the other side of the platform, and started drawing in the dust there.

She hummed to herself, quietly, putting the finishing touches to the flower she'd been drawing. A blur swinging towards her made her jump.  
"Getting bored already?" Jack said as he dangled by his knees from a branch just above her. She gasped and jumped back a little, but he obviously pulled this stunt a lot because Hiccup barely looked up, although he did smile a little at her reaction.  
"What? Jack- how?... what?" She babbled, he laughed at her as he hung upside down, and she couldn't help but laugh back.

"Come on up." He invited, she looked unsure.  
"Is it safe?" She asked, he pulled himself back up.  
"Yep, perfectly safe." He answered, climbing even higher. "It's these ones that aren't safe." He added, strolling casual along a branch that bent under his weight- even Hiccup was staring now. He jumped down onto a thicker branch and looked back down at her.  
"Well..." He said, expectantly.

Rapunzel giggled went back to the trunk, climbing higher until she was level with Jack, he was grinning back at her. They were on the same branch. He waved her towards him.  
"Come on." He repeated, she looked down at the branch beneath her feet, suddenly, it didn't seem so thick- the view was sickening rather than beautiful.

"You can do it." She heard him say, and her doubts vanished. Yes, she could do this. He had faith in her, and suddenly she wasn't afraid of anything.

She stepped out, away from the safety of the tree trunk, after a slight pause, she took another, and another, and then didn't stop until, before she knew it, a pair of hands reached out and touched her own outstretched fingers.

She looked up into Jack's face. Both of them were grinning uncontrollably, but his smile seemed to surpass his mouth, it went all the way up to his crystal blue eyes, glinting warmly at her.

"So." She ventured. "Where abouts are these dangerous branches?" She asked, innocently. Jack's grin turned devilish, and before they knew it they were bouncing on the higher branches, swaying in the wind. The leaves not that far away from her head.  
"It that as high as you can go?" She challenged, Jack looked at her, startled. She was surprised by her own daring herself, it wasn't like her at all, but with Jack there, she felt brave enough for anything.

He thought for a moment, then he started to climb even higher.  
"Come on." He whispered, there was getting to be something magical about those words. She followed.

Eventually, he stopped.

She looked up, confused- why would he have stopped so suddenly? She climbed up onto a branch next to him, a barrier of leaves blocked her way. She pushed through them, and gasped in amazement.

They were at the top of the tree, surrounded by an endless sea of green canopy, occasionally giving way to give glimpses of the ground. Above her, the broad forever stretching sky was a brilliant summer blue, lit by the burning white sun. An occasional white cloud only made the scene more beautiful- fluffy, white, curling shapes, scattered randomly across the sky, the shapes of which were defined only by imagination.

As she turned, taking in the panoramic view, she saw Jack, admiring the view just as much as she was. He seemed so much more at home up here, with the sky, and the trees. Looking at him, it just looked so right. The way he was stood in the open air, the wind gently floating his hair. She never really noticed before, but there was a certain awkwardness around him when he was in a house, like he wasn't supposed to be there. But out here, in the wilderness, he belonged.

She wondered what he was like in his past life, before he lost his memory. She doubted he'd be much different from how he was now. He was just so... Jack. It was sad that he'd lost his memory. She thought it must be horrible, not knowing who he was. He'd helped her get over her fear, now she wanted help him in return. She would help him get his memory back, she promised herself. It was the least she could do for him.

He turned to face her, a gentle smile on his face, she returned it with one of her own.

They didn't say anything. They didn't need to, and for a long time they just stood, and stared, at the magical sky together. Enjoying the wonder, of its simple beauty


	4. Chapter 4

Memory loss chapter 4- drawing and sparring  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: hey guys- back with more! Enjoy^^ oh early warning: Im going camping on Friday and Saturday so I won't be able to post then but I will post double on Thursday and Sunday just letting you know the plan and stuff^^ okay that's it though please leave a review telling me what you think (I've had some really awesome ideas about what's going on so far^^) and I will be posting the next chapter tommorow- see you then^^**

Hiccup's pencil hovered above the page. He'd finished drawing the Deadly Nadder, and had turned to a clean page. What should he draw now? A Gronkle? Nightmare? Perhaps another one of Toothless?

He looked out over the edge of the platform as he thought- what to draw... His gaze strayed across Merida, shooting her targets. He watched as she drew the arrow right back to her cheek, and levelled it, taking into consideration distance and the wind, before releasing it. A dull thwack sounded. From the triumphant grin on her face, it looked like she'd scored a bullseye. He watched for a little while longer. Three more targets were hit, before her hand reached to find an empty quiver. At this, she groaned a little, and walked off into the forest- probably to scavenge for sticks to whittle into new arrows.

Hiccup turned back to the blank page on his lap. Right, back to the question of what to draw. He pondered the question, but the dragons just didn't hold the same appeal to him anymore. His mind kept wandering to the Scottish redhead he'd just been watching.

Eventually, he realised it be pointless to try and draw his dragons, when his mind was elsewhere. He turned to the back of his drawing pad- he didn't want the others to stray across it, Jack wouldn't let him hear the end of it, and if Merida herself found out... He trembled at the thought.

Merida wasn't there for him to draw from sight, but he somehow found that he had the perfect image of her in his mind. He tried not to think about that, and instead focussed on transferring the image in his mind onto paper, it was what he was good at it, after all.

He wasn't like his other two siblings- he couldn't shoot arrows, or climb trees, he didn't have any big, useful skills, all he had was drawing, and that was hardly the most impressive thing in the world- though Rapunzel would probably tell him otherwise.

As he drew, his thoughts wandered a little. What was Rapunzel up to? The last he saw, she'd gone climbing with Jack, and if she'd caught any of his wild adventuringness, they'd be up there all day. It was good she was enjoying herself, he often saw her as a shy, timid girl. The way she shook slightly whenever Fergus addressed her, showed that. Despite the big man's kind nature, she saw only his large, imposing figure, and tried to hide from him where possible.

If she was climbing tree, higher than he was sitting, perhaps she was getting over that. He hoped so, she was curious about the world, but at the same time deathly afraid of it. If she could overcome that fear, maybe one day she would achieve her dream of seeing the world- unlike him. His dream was impossible, and, yeah, probably stupid, but there was nothing wrong with dreaming all the same.

He was just putting the finishing touches on his drawing. The picture Merida was gazing fiercely down the shaft of a half visible arrow concentration and determination evident on her face. He thought it was a good likeness, perfectly capturing the moment before she hit yet another bullseye. He was almost tempted to show the others... almost.

He examined the picture, was there anything he'd missed?... Anything at-. A scream made him jump bolt upright, a blur of motion heading groundwards appeared in front of him, and he recognised the voice. It was Rapunzel's- she was falling! Terror struck him. One thought, No, raced though him.

He'd just about had a heart attack when the blur came to an abrupt stop, and became a person. Rapunzel, upside down, hung in front of him, her long blond hair stretching towards the floor like a golden rope. Her face was lit up, and slightly flushed in giddy glee, as she flung her arms out, and squealed excitably.

Hiccup was breathing like he'd run a marathon, heart pumping in his chest. Rapunzel laughed at his comical expression. He looked up, she was hanging by her knees as Jack had done earlier, Jack himself crouched beside where she hung.  
"Nice job." He commented. "I think he just about wet himself." Hiccup let out a long moaning breath, and let himself collapse flat onto the platform. He could see Rapunzel giggling happily from where she hung.  
"Ok, I'm getting a bit dizzy." She called up. Still smiling, Jack reached down to pull her up, but just before he did, she noticed something.

She tilted her head, eyes narrowed, as she tried to make out what it was. The drawing. Hiccup panicked- oh gosh, had she seem it? Before he could decide, Jack pulled her up into a sitting position on the branch.

Hiccup didn't catch the exchange going on between the two- he snapped the book shut, before Jack could notice, and the next thing he knew, they were both right there next to him.  
"Got ya pretty good, huh dragon boy." Jack smirked, Hiccup tried to hide his nerves with humour.  
"Yeah, you got me!" He said, forcing a laugh at the end. Neither of the two bought it.

Jack was about to open his mouth and ask what he was acting so weird over, Rapunzel would tell him, or else he'd weedle it of of him, he'd see the drawing, he'd show Merida- oh the horror-  
"Hey guys!" An unexpected voice dragged their attention to the floor. Merida was holding one end of a makeshift rope swing, the other was tightly secured around the base of a thick, strong branch. "Look what I got..." She enticed, holding out her incentive. Rapunzel didn't need telling twice, her face lit up, and she was soon climbing down the tree as quickly as Jack had gone up it.

Hiccup waited for Jack to race past him, so he could follow. The expected move didn't happen. Jack was still stood there.  
"So what's her deal?" He asked, obviously meaning Rapunzel. "How come that's the first time she's climbed a tree?" He looked genuinely baffled, as though such a thing were unheard of.  
"Ah, overprotective mother." Hiccup explained. "She's always been told to stay inside, where she can't be attacked by gangs, and thugs." Jack snorted, slightly.  
"She didn't actually let that stop her?" He said, incredulously.  
"Well she'd been listening to stuff like that ever since she was three. She's grown up with it, and she's never known any different. In fact, if her mother wasn't friends with Elinor, I doubt she'd be able to come out to us. And if her mother ever found out about her coming to the forest- well, we'd never see her again." He gave him a moment to let that sink in, before continuing. "You know, I think the only reason Elinor made friends with her mother was to give her a chance to explore. I only ever saw the woman once- can't say I liked her that much."  
"Hey slowpokes! Are you coming down, or what? Rapunzel's getting all the rope swing!" Merida called up to them.

Jack was still processing what he heard, so Hiccup went down before him- and Merida noticed.  
"Woah, I think Jackie boy's gone all softie! How come he let you down before him?" She said, loudly. She shoudnt have said that. Jack practically freefell off the platform, onto the floor. He always did go out of his way to prove his points.

They played a little time bomb- rope swing style. The person on the swing got thrown to and fro from person to person, if you failed to touch the rope when it came your way, the countdown began, and when they reached zero, the person on the swing had to "explode", tagging the person nearest to them, who then became the bomb. Jack jumped and landed on Merida for his "explosion", payback, no doubt, for the "softie" comment earlier.

The game ended when Hiccup was nearly knocked out by the oncoming rope, but for some reason- Merida decided to start something more dangerous instead.

She picked up a long pole like stick, and held it aloft in a single hand.  
"Fencing." She stated.  
"Fencing?!" Hiccup spluttered, this was not a good idea- this was so not a good idea- but it looked like he was alone with that opinion. Jack readily picked up a similar stick and started bouncing it in his hand. Rapunzel looked a little unsure, but decided it would be alright, and began searching for a stick of her own. It was alright for her, Hiccup thought, everyone would go soft on her- he'd get battered!  
"Alright, first round." Merida announced. "Me vs Mr Viking here, and Jackie boy vs Goldilocks." Jack and Rapunzel grinned at each other, silently reaching an agreement not to hurt one another. Hiccup turned, with a sinking feeling, to his fencing partner. She was holding a second stick put to him with a devilish look in her eye. He took his stick. This was a really bad idea.

Merida took in her opponent- he was quaking in his boots. She almost laughed, he was kinda cute that way. She held her sword aloft.  
"Alright, first to disarm their opponent wins!" She called out. Hiccup looked like he wanted to babble something- probably that that wasn't what you do in fencing- but before he could, she shouted. "Ready, go!" She knew the traditional call was "En Garde", but that was sounded posh, and as a rule she deliberately avoided anything posh- much to her mothers distaste.

She was going to win- she knew it, and Hiccup knew it. What he didn't know, though, was that her dad had secretly been giving her swordsplay lessons for years. He was dead meat.

He held the stick across his chest, defensively. His body language was weird- like he was trying to look brave, but at the same time say "please don't hurt me". And perhaps she wouldn't... much.

She whipped her stick round, slashing and striking at his weak defence. When he became clear his defence was failing, he tried for a last ditch attempt at offence. She saw it coming, and using his oncoming attack to push him off balance, and knock him to the floor. She paused a second, enjoying the moment of triumph, before kicking his stick out his hand. Hiccup groaned in pain and embarrassment. She smirked at the pathetic, yet enjoyable, show.  
"Good fight." She said, innocently. But, they both knew full well she'd completely thrashed him, and he'd been a terrible fight.

A dull thud to their left indicated the end of the other fight. Apparently the two had been enacting knights, because Jack held up his makeshift sword to Rapunzel's neck, commanding a noble, but silly, stature.  
"It's over, foul witch!" He said, in a deep knights voice, before grinning at her, and bowing. The witch must have somehow become a princess, because Rapunzel curtsied back.  
"I thank you for saving me, dear knight." She enacted, in a high-pitched, delicate, female voice. Jack put on a false show of modesty.  
"Ahh, 'twas nothing for a fair maiden such as yourself." He dramatised, sweeping a non exist any hat off his head. Rapunzel blushed a little at that.

Oh honestly, cut the cutesy drama stuff, Merida thought, she'd rather just get a good fight going.  
"Oy, Sir Lancelot! Come on, champion vs champion- winner has to do the other's chores for a week!" Jack grinned.  
"You're on." Poor, poor, Jack. He didn't know what he was getting himself into. Goodbye dirty dishes, hello free time, she thought.

A part of her noted that Hiccup and Rapunzel were watching, rather than take part in another duel. Great, she thought, an audience to the white head's complete and utter defeat.  
"Ready?" She said. Jack looked a lot more confident than Hiccup did- silly boys. "Go!" She shouted, letting him come at her first.

He wasn't that bad, his blows had method and were pretty strong, but she deflected them easily. Jack looked mildly impressed. Time to show him what she could do. She launched into an attack sequence, different to the one she'd used for Hiccup. She considered toying with him, letting things play out a bit, so he could feel like he was winning, then crush him right at the end, but, she decided, far more humiliating to get his butt kicked instantly.

She showed off a few fancy moves, ending with a sharp rap to the knuckles that would have made even her dad drop his sword... but Jack kept hold of it.

She was so shocked, she almost didn't manage to deflect his next flurry of blows. Alright, no more miss nice girl- he was going down. She rained blows down on him, thick and fast, but still the stick remained securely fastened in his grip. How was he doing it? Had the stick melded to his skin, somehow? Was he using some kind of superglue? That thing just wouldn't move out of his hands?

Jack himself didn't know how he was doing it. The stick in his hand seemed light and natural as if he'd been handling it for years, and one thing seemed to have been burned into his mind- do not let go of the stick.

Merida was getting furious. Why. Wouldn't he just. Drop. The stick, already. She swung a rage fueled blow at the stick, and it snapped with a loud, sudden bang.

Jack reeled back, eyes wide, face slack.

Her anger vanished in an instant. Oh gods- had she hit him?

The others must have had the same idea, because Rapunzel was at his side in an instant, Merida and Hiccup shortly following.

At the moment the blow had struck, the sound of the snapping stick seemed to trigger something in him. A memory? It was too vague to be called that. But he had the most horrific feeling of déjà vu. He'd that sound before, it had been horrible, shattering, painful even. He had no idea what had happened- all he knew was how he'd felt when he'd last heard that sickening snap.

He noticed Rapunzel's green eyes flashing with concern in front of him.  
"Jack! What happened? Are you hurt?" Merida's voice came in next.  
"I didn't hit him did I?" She sounded terrified. He saw and felt Hiccup's steadying hand on his shoulder.  
"Are you okay?" He asked.  
"I'm fine." He managed, trying to smile off the shaky experience. They still stared at him, concerned. "Just a memory, that's all." He continued, their eyes widened at this, Rapunzel's especially.  
"A memory?" Hiccup repeated.  
"What is it you remember?" Rapunzel asked, eagerly.  
"Nothing, really." He answered truthfully. "Just... the last time I heard that noise, I felt awful, scared even... like something terrible had happened." They all pondered what this could mean.  
"But, Jack, this is wonderful! If you keep remembering more stuff, you could remember completely!" Rapunzel said, enthusiastically, ever the optimist. She obviously saw this as some big break through, but Jack secretly had his doubts.

He was beginning to give up on his memory.

It had been a month now, with nothing but this just a dull feeling. No images, no voices, nothing. He just couldn't remember anything, or anyone.

In an entire month, nothing had changed.


	5. Chapter 5

Memory loss chapter 5- Scary Stories  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: hey guys ^^ enjoy this chapter! As I said yesterday though I'm going camping for the next two days so I won't be able to post then but that's why I am double posting today and Sunday so I hope you enjoy these two chapters I'm sorry there'll be a longer delay between this and the next chapters but please review you really make my day by doing so^^ until Sunday then! I'm off camping^^**

The excitement of the revelation didn't take long to die down, Rapunzel was annoyed with that. They should have done something, helped him remember, but no, now it was back to normal, as if it had never happened. Well, she wasn't going to forget it, and she hadn't forgotten either her promise to help him with his lost memory either. She just hasn't been able to speak with him about it, yet, alone.

She unrolled the spare sleeping bag she'd borrowed from the Dunbrochs and lay it out along the side of the other three sleeping bags. Hiccup slept in the middle of both Jack and Merida, because the two of them lying next to each other was a recipe for disaster.

She still couldn't believe her mother had allowed her to stay the night, but, then again, when she said sleepover she didn't think a night in the trees, underneath the stars, was what she'd had in mind. Still, she was excited. The sky was already darkening, and a massive pile of blankets lay to one side, in case it got cold. They each had a torch for staying up after dark, and she was pretty sure Merida had sneaked up a load of sweets for a midnight feast. She wasn't sure she would stay up as late as midnight, but she would stay up for a while, long enough to enjoy herself.

When the adults finally left them for the last time until morning, she couldn't help but let a little happy dance slip.

They played truth or dare for a while, Merida and Jack were the daredevils- Jack because his lack of memory made for some boring truths, and Merida because anything Jack could do, she could do. They did all sorts of weird, sometimes disgusting, things, shouted embarrassing statements, and generally acting like idiots. Hiccup also chose dares quite a bit- most likely to avoid awkward truths, she thought, remembering the sketch she saw in the back of his drawing pad. She, herself, was the biggest truther, but she did brave a few dares.

After a good many rounds, she chose a truth.  
"If you could only live in a world full of girls, or a world full of boys, which would it be?" Merida challenged. She thought for a moment, but it wasn't that hard.  
"Girls." She told them. "Boys just fight and argue all the time." They all laughed at that, and Hiccup looked up at the greatly darkened sky.  
"It's getting a bit dark to do any good dares" He thought out loud.  
"Alright then, scary stories." Merida announced. Jack grinned, throwing in a pink blanket.  
"And if anyone gets scared, they can hold little blanky here." He smirked. Merida immediately kicked it away from her as if it were diseased, Rapunzel, however, deliberately didn't move it away.

"Alright, me first." Merida demanded, and she began to spin a tale that happened hundreds of years ago. Apparently, the tale had been past down through many generations of Dunbrochs.

The story was of a evil witch, who transformed unwary travellers into bears, and, one day, a prince came across her cottage, and became a bear with the strength of ten men. He turned on his own people and brothers, leaving the kingdom burned and destroyed.  
"...and the legend of Mordu goes, that the bear prince's spirit still haunts the ruins, waiting to attack any unwary visitors, just as the witch had attacked him."

It was a pretty good story. By the end of it, they'd all turned their torches on. The last rays of the sun were finally setting.

Rapunzel went next, she'd heard a great deal of spooky stories from her mother, which she now relayed to her friends. Tales of thieves, and thugs, and a big, bad, dangerous world, which destroyed any sign of goodness, or light.

Hiccup told one- also a tale of his ancestors- the story of his namesake Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third (he was the fourth). The story was, no surprise, about dragons. About how his ancestor tamed one, in the midst of a big, gruesome war, between the Vikings and the beasts, and got them to live in harmony, by destroying the giant, evil dragon that forced smaller dragons to raid the Vikings, at the cost of his own leg.

They all secretly doubted the credibility of that story, but they enjoyed it all the same.

Now they'd all said their piece, the three of them turned to Jack.

"Well. You got anything?" Merida asked, impatiently.  
"Not really." He said, evasively.  
"Is that a maybe?" Merida pushed.  
"Maybe." Jack replied.  
"Come on, monkey boy, either you have or you haven't. If you have, then spill." Jack stayed quiet, he did have something, his silence confirmed it.  
"Come on, Jack. We've all said our stories." Hiccup coaxed, curious as to what tale he'd tell. Rapunzel wanted to hear for a different reason- maybe he'd remembered something.  
"Pleease!" She whined, flashing him the big, puppy eyes. He sighed. "Fine."

It was now pitch black outside, the small pool of beams from their torches the only light in the looming darkness surrounding them. Jack spoke in a quiet, reluctant voice, like it had actually happened- like he'd been there in the story.

"Darkness." He began. "it was everywhere. All around him. The young boy ran about aimlessly in the darkness. He no longer knew how long he'd been captive there, all he knew was that he had precious little time before his breakout was noticed, in which to make his escape. He had broken free many times, but he'd never managed to reach the outside world. He'd only gotten dragged back to the cage, every time. If he got caught escaping again... he shuddered, the last time had not been pleasant. He could only pray that, this time, he succeeded. So he ran, blindly, stumbling about in the darkness down tunnel after endless tunnel, looking for a fleeting glimpse, a whisper of fresh air, or sunlight, even moonlight- anything other than that awful, suffocating darkness that twisted the mind, and left him gasping and trembling, verging on the break of sanity. His breathe soon came in gasps, and his legs grew stiff from the excursion. He had to get out, it couldn't be far now. A slim, but imposing, figure slid out in front of him, draped in darkness. He almost seemed to appear out of the shadows. The boy skidded to a stop. No, he'd failed. This is what had happened every past time, and he couldn't believe he was going to have freedom denied him once again. "Really now-..." He paused like he was about to say something but stopped himself at the last minute. He quickly continued. "..You're beginning to annoy me with all these breakouts. Why don't you just accept that there's no way out." The figure spoke smoothly, each word needling deep into his being, spreading fear. The boy almost believed him- he'd been stopped again, and again, perhaps there was no escape. But then, a defiant piece of hope rose within him. He silently thanked the dear friend he'd known before the darkness that had given it him. That hope had become a lifeline to the boy, the only light in that eternal darkness. The man must have sensed his words weren't doing their job, because he laughed and threw out more words, like arrows, aiming to break the boy in any way possible. "Still hiding behind your precious guardian friends? Well let me tell you-..." He paused again as though wondering how to phrase the next part. "...they've abandoned you" No, they wouldn't, he thought desperately, but the words of fear were taking root. They've forgotten you, and they've replaced you with the next passing-." He wavered again. "- person, that came by. No, no, it wasn't true, he repeated, believing it less and less with every passing second. "You never were one of them J-boy" He switched words at the last minute. "They never cared about you, they were just using you. He pressed his hands against his head, trying to block out the whispers of darkness that wormed their way into his soul, an endless babble of dark and depressed thoughts that chattered on at him in his mind, as he begged for it all to stop. And yet the mutterings couldn't block out the man's voice as he moved towards him. his eyes were gleaming with conquering triumph, taking great pleasure in his fear. "You are mine now, boy, there is no escape." The noise in his head grew deafening. A dagger of pain penetrating his skull, as his final lifeline, the flame of hope flickered and died... and the darkness took him..."

Everyone sat silent, stunned by the story.

Rapunzel had twisted her hands deep into the blanket, and Hiccup had pulled it close to his chest. Merida chuckled a little, but it was clear she was at least a little unsettled aswell as it was really forced.  
"Aww, does ickle Hiccup want a cuddle?" She taunted, Hiccup dropped the blanket, blushing a little, and Rapunzel loosened her death grip on it. Hiccup chuckled back, more to relieve the tension than anything.

A silence enveloped them, until Merida announced.  
"Hey, what say we stuff our faces with chocolate, them get some sleep." Everyone readily agreed, hoping to loose the uneasy feeling in the sugar fest.

Any conversation at first was loud and forced, but eventually became easier and more relaxed. By the time they were finished, all of them had forgotten the scary story, or written it off as just that, a story, and settled down to sleep... Almost, all of them.

Rapunzel lay awake, thinking about that story and its possible relation to Jack.

She stared out into the darkness, looking at nothing in particular. What if that was a memory, or a connection to his past? No, it couldn't be- right? He was too young for that, but the person in the story had been a young boy... and the several times he hesitated, one time he'd said "J-" was it possible he was about to say "Jack"? But how could something so horrible exist in his past? She thought about her mothers teachings of a cruel, dark world, with crueler, and darker people that had become so surreal over the time she'd spent with her friends. Was it all true?

She began to get a little scared, the darkness of the night seemed to reach out to her.

If the story was a part of his past, what else was there? Would it not be safer if some things remained forgotten? Wouldn't he be happier, blisssfully ignorant, if he never regained his memory? Why should she even try to help him get it back? She might be more harming him than helping him! ...and what if he did remember, what then? Would he have to move away? Would she ever see him again? She didn't want to go back to her life without him? He was her courage, her couldn't stand it, if left.

His memory should stay forgotten. That way she could stay with him forever, and he would be happily unaware of the darkness in his past. The evil cruel things that had happened to him. The scary man in the dark. The cruel, dark world. Ruffians. Thugs! She pulled her quilt closer, but that didn't seem to help.

All there was was darkness, and fear... she was afraid, and in the dark, and high up, and exposed, and vulnerable. She felt horribly in danger.

Then a soft rubbing of fabric caught her attention, followed by a gentle creaking of wood, as someone walked along the platform.

Rapunzel sat up, and looked across at the source of the noise. She looked just in time to see a glimpse of white hair disappear down the side of the platform. Jack? What was he doing? She got up, and walked up to the trunk of the tree. The other two were sound asleep, Merida snoring loudly.

She looked down and realised it wasn't just black, moonlight cut through the canopy, allowing her to see reasonably well- but the darkness still loomed around her, ominously.

Before she could decide otherwise, she climbed down the tree in the semi-permeable darkness. It was terrifying, but she forged onwards.

Her feet touched the earth, she let out a sigh of relief, but it was still dark. She looked round, seeking out her friend. There he was. She hurried over to him.  
"Jack!" She said, poorly concealing her relief. He turned to her, surprised. She attempted to cover up her previous relief.  
"What are doing here?" He looked down, somewhat sheepishly.  
"Couldn't sleep." He admitted. "I needed a walk." Rapunzel looked down too.  
"Me too." She said. Jack started forwards again, Rapunzel fell into step behind him.

She kept casting fearful glances over her shoulders, when Jack wasn't looking. He looked perfectly calm. How could he? After that story, that memory- how did the darkness not terrify him? How was he not scared of the big, cruel world? "Aren't you scared?" She asked him.  
"Of what?" He asked back.  
"Of everything! How do you know nothing's going to come out and grab you? How do you there aren't any thugs out there? Thieves? Ruffians? People who want to hurt you? I mean- you're on your own! Out in the dark, in the middle of nowhere! How are not afraid?" She burst out, not quite hysterically, but definately fearfully.

He stopped walking, and they stood there, in silence.  
"I used to be." He told her, the acknowledgement surprised her, she hadn't thought he'd scared of anything. "I used to think there was something watching me in the shadows, waiting to grab me and take me to some horrible place- like in my dreams... But then..." He said, looked up. "Then I looked at the moon... So big, and so bright... it just seemed to chase the darkness away... and when it did, I wasn't scared anymore. Like there was someone watching over me... And it reminded me that it wasn't all darkness. There was light in the world as well."

She followed his gaze, up at the moon. He was right. There was something calming about its gentle, glowing light. She felt her own fear ebbing away, but some doubts still remained.  
"Jack?" She asked.  
"Mm."  
"Aren't you scared that if you get your memory back, it will be like your nightmares." He continued staring at the moon.  
"Not really." He answered. "It's like I just said, there would've some light there."  
"The hope thing from the story! A friend gave it you." She remembered.

He was right, perhaps it was worth remembering after all. But there was one last thing.  
"...And if you left?" she asked.  
"Hey, I'd stay in touch. Just you try and stop me." He replied, she got the feeling her mother would try and do just that. But she also got the feeling Jack wouldn't let a little thing like that stop him.

That decided it.

"Jack. I'm going to help you get your memory back." She told him, he looked at her.  
"How?" He wondered.  
"I don't know." She admitted. "But we'll figure it out... together." She promised.

He smiled at her, and together they watched the moon, as they had done the sun not that long ago, and, suddenly, the moonlight seemed that bit brighter.


	6. Chapter 6

Memory loss chapter 6- the key to his past  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: so here we are with the second part of today's update^^ as usual thanks for reading I hope you enjoy and please leave a review :-D I will see you on Sunday with the next double update^^**

Over the next week, Rapunzel puzzled over how to help Jack. She was so distracted, on the fourth day, she was drawing, aiming to create a flower like the one that...- anyway, moving on. But, by the time she looked down, she realised she'd drawn a rough profile of Jack with the beginnings of a question mark on it.

The picture gave her an idea. The memories were still there, they just had to bring them out.

So it was that the next time she visited she brought along her drawing book, and sat Jack down with it. She stood in front of him holding out a pencil for him. He took one look at it, and started to rise.  
"Um, no. I really can't-" he began to protest. She pushed him down again, he raised a surprised eyebrow at her firmness.  
"Look." She said, presenting the half sketch of him. "That was meant to be a flower." She told him, seeing the blank look on his face she added.  
"I was trying to draw a flower, and instead ended up doing that, like, subconsciously. If you start drawing something, anything. Then, maybe you'll end up drawing something from your past."

It was a long shot but it was all she had. One look at her crossed arms, and he knew he wasn't getting up until he at least tried. He took the pencil from her.  
"Alright, but I warn you, I'm no good with this thing." He said, waving the pencil.

Rapunzel began to see why. He held it like an infant, and when she showed him the right way to hold it, his fingers slid up and down the length of it, unaccustomed to the small, cylindrical shape. He tried, she could tell, he really did. But the ending result looked like nothing more than an aimless scribble. Even with her artist's eye she couldn't see anything in it.

"You see." He said, his eyes taunting the "I told you so" he didn't bother to voice.  
"What were you trying to draw?" She asked.  
"One of my nightmares. Like that story I told you last week- they're the closest I ever get to my past, but when I wake up I can never remember any of it. I don't know how I remembered it that night, I just... did." She tapped a finger on her chin, the way she did when was doing some big thinking.  
"I know! You're asleep when you're having the nightmares- you have your eyes closed." She built up.  
"Yeah." He confirmed, wondering where this was going.  
"So close your eyes!" She concluded, Jack looked like she'd suggested consulting a dream deciphering book- which she had thought about, but decided against.  
"How is closing my eyes going to help? I won't be able to see what I'm drawing, or where the pencil is!" She sat next to him  
"It's dark when you close your eyes just like when you're asleep or when it's nighttime." She explained, it was a pretty weak link, and he still looked unconvinced.  
"Just try it... for me." She added. Jack rolled his eyes like he just knew this was going to go wrong, and started drawing.

Rapunzel watched- already this was better than the scribble she'd torn out of the book earlier. It wasn't clear yet what he was drawing, but it had a definite shape.

As the drawing progressed, she eventually decided it was a man- perhaps the evil person from the nightmare story? He seemed to have a lot of darkness around him, it blurred into his body- a result no doubt of his blind drawing, because half of the figure's left side seemed to have merged with the wall of darkness he'd created there.

When it came to the person's face, he slowed. It seemed to be taking forever, but Rapunzel was patient.

Jack opened his his eyes to see the final product and was astonished.  
"Wow...-but that's him! Did I draw that?" Rapunzel nodded, it was remarkably different from his first attempt- a was a pretty good drawing, it was well detailed, especially in the face, you could even see the malevolent glow in his eye.  
"Is that what you wanted to draw?" She asked, to her surprise, he shook his head.  
"No. I was just thinking about my past, and my missing memories, and then... that." Rapunzel looked at the picture.  
"Then, that's it." She realised, a confused Jack turned to her.  
"He's the key to getting your memory ba-" She broke off as she heard Merida calling her to the front door, and glanced up at the clock. It couldn't be time for her to leave already?! But it was.

Well, at least she'd achieved something over her time there. Reluctantly she got up and went to the door, leaving Jack with a pencil drawing, and a whole lot of time with his thoughts.

After Rapunzel's absence, things were different. Hiccup felt something was out of sorts but, at first, he had no idea what. Eventually, he realised- it was too quiet. There was nearly always something going on in the house. He put down his book and left his bedroom to find out what the problem was.

He passed by Merida's room, she was in there, listening to some blasting music- nothing new there. Jack wasn't in his room- again, nothing new there. He went downstairs- there was Jack, and there was his first clue something wasn't right.

He was just sat there. He never sat that still, he was always doing something- attempting to slide down the banister, pranking either Fergus, Merida or himself, or, more recently, sword fighting Merida in the garden.

Before he could wonder about it for too long, Elinor shouted out to the whole house: dinner was ready. Two more signs Jack wasn't himself, all in one. One, at the mention of food he didn't leap up, and dive at the table, and- two, when Merida came stomping down with a casual, everyday call of  
"Come on Airhead, get your butt moving- I'm hungry" he didn't reply with something like "Of course, Lady Fire Face, we can't let the delicate little princess starve." (Huh, not bad, Hiccup thought, that actually sounded a lot like something he would say- he blamed it on spending to much time with the troublemaker). He just got up, possibly with a slight grunt in reply, and followed her in with none of his usual energy.

Hiccup thought he noticed him sliding something- a piece of paper perhaps?- into his pocket as he went past. That was definitely out of the ordinary.

Next couple of signs he wasn't right- when the meal came out he didn't dig into it with the usual gusto, or slide a couple of annoying comments Merida's way. Even the waffles for desert failed to ignite the usual enthusiasm- that was not normal for him.

Dinner was boring. Even Fergus' attempt at a burping contest failed to make things exciting- Fergus being silenced by Elinor, and Merida not having an opponent to continue with.

Afterwards, Jack went up to him room. That was when he knew something was up. Merida called him "Airhead" earlier for a reason- he almost never spent any time indoors, and he never, ever, went into his bedroom for anything other than sleep, and it was way too early for that. Hiccup wondered what was bothering him. He thought about it, and came to a conclusion. Jack's silence was because of deep thinking- dangerous? Definitely, and the only thing that would make Jack think this much was... his past.

Something had happened that day, perhaps Rapunzel had made a breakthrough? Whatever the reason, Hiccup got the feeling he needed someone to talk too- and with Rapunzel gone, and Merida being about as soft as a sledgehammer, he guessed it was down to him.

So, later that night, he stopped by his room.  
"Er, Jack?... You in there?" He wished he wasn't the one to do this- it was a girl's specialty. Where was Rapunzel when you needed her? She was brilliant with this stuff. No answer from inside.  
"Look, ah... you, er, seemed a bit, um... quiet tonight, and I just, erm... wanted to know if... everything's ok?" He queried, awkwardly. Honestly, only asking out a girl could make him more uncomfortable than he felt right now (that was a thought he really wanted to get out of his head). It was just Jack, for crying out loud!

He looked in... and then introduced his head to the doorframe. He wasn't there. Of course he wasn't. He'd just gone and made a big idiot of himself for nothing, at least Merida hadn't seen him- he would've never heard the end of it. He almost turned away, but something stopped him. A whisper of wind made him look again. The window was wide open- wide enough for a skinny boy to climb out of. Unable to shake the feeling Jack was out there, crazy though it may seem, he went up to, and looked out of, the window.

It just so happened that beneath the window was a slope of roof. It was at a steady enough angle to sit on comfortably without falling off- or so Hiccup assuming from the white haired boy sitting perfectly still on the slate. Hiccup had wanted a one on one talk, he just wasn't quite expecting it to be on a roof. Still, at least it would be private. He carefully clambered out, and unsteadily made his way to sit a little way away from Jack.

It was impossible for Jack to have not noticed him, but he didn't say anything. Hiccup had no idea what to say: Hey, Jack, you were weirdly quiet today- want to talk about it underneath the moonlight? Considering he was perched rather precariously on a roof, that might not be the way to do it.

So they both sat there in silence for a while, until Hiccup was unable to bear it any longer.  
"Hey, um... what're ya doing out here?" He began.  
"Thinking." Jack replied, as though this was a perfectly natural place to talk, on a roof.

Well that conversation hit a dead end. Maybe he didn't want to talk, perhaps it would be better if he left him alone- let one of the girls deal with this. Even Merida would be better at this kind of thing than him.

Despite the tough, haughty exterior, he knew there was a softer side to her. That side of her was the one he knew better- it was still stubborn, and mischievous, but it was a lot kinder and warmer than the image she projected. That was the real her. The Merida he'd gotten to like over the few years he'd lived with her. Apparently, she was a lot rougher before he came into the picture- it was no secret they'd adopted him in the hope he'd exert a positive influence on her. He had no idea whether it worked, but he felt like that nicer side to her had always been there- he was just one of few people to see it. Very few people knew of that side to Merida Dunbroch- perhaps even Jack didn't know of that softer side- perhaps, that was all the more reason to get her to do this instead. But he felt he should give it a least one last attempt.

"What's the problem?" He asked, hoping for an answer. For a while, none came, and he started to get up to leave.  
"It's this." Jack said, producing a folded sheet of paper- he was pretty sure it was the same one he'd seen him pocket earlier. Jack was holding it out, but Hiccup still felt reluctant to take it. It felt like he was intruding in on something private. He did take it, however, and unfolded it warily.

The dim light of the moon revealed a drawing of a man half hidden in shadows. He had no idea who it was, or why it was so important, he could only wait for Jack to elaborate.  
"Rapunzel thinks he might be the key to my memory." He muttered, sounding oddly miserable.  
"That's good, then, isn't it?" He said, realising it probably wasn't all that simple.  
"He's the man I see in my nightmares, Hiccup." Jack explained.  
"Oh, not so good, then." He murmured, if he was seeing things from his past in his sleep, and was calling them nightmares, it was no wonder he was so troubled.  
"The past few months all I ever thought about was getting my memories back... and now... I can't help wondering if I even want them back at all. Do I really want to have something like that shadowing me my whole life? What if it's even worse than I imagined? What if he beat..." He trailed unwilling to finish, but he didn't need to.

Hiccup suddenly realised- he was beginning to sound like Rapunzel sometimes did when she was scared, and he got the feeling she'd unwillingly given him these doubts.

He was right, of course. Since Rapunzel had voiced her concerns that previous week, those same thoughts that had calmed in her, had moved on to trouble Jack, and now, even the light of the silvery moon seemed to do nothing to stem those fears.

Hiccup thought. Careful words were needed in situations like these- he'd read enough books to know that. So he chose them with great care, hoping they would help.  
"Maybe, but I refuse to believe that was the only thing in your past. There must have been some good in there...? But whatever's in your past, well help you through it. It's not as if you're alone, Jack. You've got me, Rapunzel, even Merida. We're here for you, whatever weird, spooky things you see at night."

Jack listened, silently. He wasn't alone. For some reason that meant a great deal to him. Maybe because he'd never truly opened up to anyone before- Rapunzel needed him to stay strong for her, and Merida wasn't very patient or understanding. He realised he needed someone to talk to, just like Rapunzel needed him to talk to... he was glad Hiccup was there.

He felt something relax in him. He had friends, he wasn't alone. They'd tackle whatever problems the past or the future would throw at them... together, he thought, echoing Rapunzel. He turned and looked at Hiccup, smiling appreciatively, about to thank him.

Then, quite suddenly, a stuffed cat hit Hiccup on the head.  
"Ow! What?" They both looked up.  
"When you two have both finished having your date, I suggest you go back to bed, before I call Mum." Jack broke into the first real grin Hiccup'd seen since breakfast, and picked up the stuffed toy.  
"Cute cat Merida! Who's this Mr Cuddles?" He taunted, her eyes narrowed, and her head withdrew from the window.

"She really has gone to get Elinor, now, hasn't she?" Jack realised.  
"Yup." Hiccup confirmed, and together they scrambled to get off the roof, before the Scottish Queen got there. Neither of them wanted to end up dead haggis.


	7. Chapter 7

Memory loss chapter 7- school  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: Hey guys^^ IM BACK ! Camping was great but I really wish I could've updated whilst I was there. Anyway I'm back with the next chapter (well next two actually) but I hope you enjoy them please leave a review oh and one last thing- HAPPY EASTER! I hope Bunnymund gave you all loads of Easter eggs to enjoy^^ consider this a bit of an Easter pressie for you all (even if it isn't very Eastery at all but its the thought that counts right) okay I'll leave you to the chapter now^^ **

Merida hated school, and if she thought by repeating that fact every single, passing minute she was in a classroom, she could make it less boring, she was wrong. She hated school.

She wasn't like Rapunzel, who delighted in taking the opportunity to learn new things, and make friends- she just found it plain boring.

Still, the knowledge that Airhead was in here somewhere, getting bored to tears with lessons fit for ten year olds, made her feel somewhat better. For a while she entertained herself with an image of him snoring at a desk, drooling all over his textbook- yep, he would pretty much be like that by now. Actually, she wasn't far from a snooze herself.

Fixing her eyes on the clock, she willed the hands to move a little bit faster. Just ten more minutes, that was all. Ten more minutes of torture, and then she was temporarily free for break- which wasn't all that great, but it beat sitting in the classroom, with the teacher rambling on at you about what? She had no idea- she wasn't actually paying attention.

It was only when a sheet of paper drifted into her face she snapped out of her reverie. She turned it over, slowly. Dreading what it may reveal. No, surely... it wouldnt be, it couldnt- it was. There could be no mistaking it. Right at the top, in bold, that dreaded word: "Homework". Why, she thought- there was already such thing as housework in the world, wasn't that torture enough?! Apparently not.

A dull trilling sounded outside, in the corridor. Oh sure, now the bell goes off. Five minutes earlier and she could have been spared the agony of (she shuddered) homework. She stuffed the hated sheet in her bag, and shoved her way out of the classroom, into the mad traffic of the corridor. Luckily, she'd developed a technique in times such as these- ram, push and show no mercy.

She was in the yard in no time... and now for the daily challenge of "Where's Hiccup and Rapunzel?" At break and lunch times it was her job, or, sorry, "duty as a friend" to chaperone /bodyguard /babysit the two. By order of their mothers.

She peered through the crowd, Hiccup especially she needed to find as soon as possible. He was prone to... let's call it being made a laughing stock. If she got there before those brainless idiots did, she didn't have to do anything, other than stay with him- if they got to him before she did, that meant she had to get her hands dirty, and she really couldnt be bothered with that.

Still no sign of the shrimpy kid. Why couldn't he were a red and white striped scarf and glasses, it would make him so much easier to spot. By the time she spotted him, she realised she was too late. He was surrounded by Snotlout and his goonies of equally dumb names.

She groaned up at the heavens, and pushed her sleeves back- when she heard a voice speaking out to address the bullies.  
"Woah, hey! What're you doing, picking on a kid like this?" Snotlout, the ring leader, blinked at him stupidly. "I mean, come on, someone like yourself picking on..." He looked at Hiccup, vaguely searching for a word. "...this." Hiccup shot him an irritated look like "you just gestured to all of me" and he continued regardless. "That's kinda pathetic, really."

A slow crowd was gathering around the group, as there promised to be a scene- people were just like "Woah, someone standing up to Snotlout? Cool, we get double kill" and drifted round to watch. At the word "pathetic" an "oooooooh" drifted around the crowd.

Snotlout shoved a thick, grubby finger at Jack (because, yeah- if you haven't already figured it out- it's him).  
"Pathetic?! Do you have any idea who you're talking to, wimp? I am Snotlout. I own these grounds." He announced, holding out his arms with a kind of grand arrogance. Jack raised an eyebrow.  
"Snotlout?" He repeated. "snot... Lout. Snot,lout. Snoootlout." Jack said, repeated over and over again, tilting his head to one side.

"Erm, what are you doing?" One of Snotlout's dummy sidekicks asked. (Ruffnut if Merida remembered correctly- although it might have been her twin brother, because she looked like a he). Snotlout pummelled her/him.  
"I'm trying to decide which part of the name is the stupidest. I mean "snot" is just silly, but what does "lout" even mean?" Jack speculated. Snotlout looked completely thrown off, he wasn't used to this casual, annoying, riddled talk, he much prefered people grovelling for mercy at his feet.  
"Oh, it's a mean, or aggressive, person. Typically a male." Hiccup informed, walking dictionary that he is, sharing Jack's casual couldn't care less tone.  
"Oh, ok then." Jack thanked. "I think I'm gonna go with "snot" then. Yep, "snot" is definitely the most stupid part... So how's it going Snot?" Snotlout looked thoroughly bewildered.  
"My name is Snotlout!" He told him.  
"Yeah, I thought I'd choose the name which suited you best." Jack oh-so-cleverly jibed.

It took the bully's tiny brain the best part of ten, long, seconds to realise he'd just been called stupid- and he was so caught off by it, he spluttered.  
"It's Snotlout. Not Snot!" He roared, indignantly.  
"Yeah, it's a good job too." Jack said, nonplussed. "Can you imagine if everyone called you Snot?" He asked, putting on a slang teen accent. "Ere, you 'eard about Snot" He introduced a different voice. "Which one's Snot? s'not the one tha' snot all that nice is'not?" "Yeah 'im 'snot very nice that Snot is'snot." No 'snot?"

Merida was begginning to enjoy this show- where was the popcorn when you needed it? She wasn't the only one, giggles and chuckles dotted around the crowd, turned Hiccup's humiliation, into Snotlout's- who was turning very red and very angry. Suddenly, he resembled a mad bull.  
"You are so dead, you-" No doubt Snotlout would've called him some inventive name, but at that moment he was interrupted.  
"Is there a problem over here boys?" Oh snap. The large crowd had drawn the attention of a teacher, and not just any teacher- the headmaster.

Jack smiled brightly at him, and began to turn away, Hiccup, unable to believe his luck, at his side.  
"No 'snot anything wrong going on here, is there Hiccup?" He commented. Hiccup lurched forwards with a contained snicker.  
"No. 'snot." He replied. Unable to do anything with the teacher watching, Snotlout could only scowl at their retreating backs.

Oh, that Airhead could be a tricksy devil sometimes. She heard him call out over his shoulder.  
"Keep your nose clean!" Since when did Jack hear that? She followed them, close enough to see Hiccup also give him a baffled look at the comment, she just about caught Jack saying.  
"What? It's just something I heard Elinor say- no idea what it means." Merida and hiccup both shook their heads.

The drill of the bell sounded again, and the teachers began shepherding the kids inside. PE was next. Oh great, Snotlout would be looking for revenge.

On the way to the changing rooms, Rapunzel squeezed her way through to her.  
"Hey! Where were you all break?" She queried, a little exasperated.  
"Oh, just watching Airhead/Snot Show. You should have been there- you missed a really fun show. Shame about the popcorn." She informed, casually.  
"Popcorn?" Rapunzel asked.  
"There wasn't any." She answered, passing through the door of the changing rooms. "Come on, Snotlout will be looking for blood this lesson. But, as long as they don't split up the boys and girls, they should be fine.

"We're splitting up the boys and the girls." The teacher announced. "Girls, its towerball in the gym. Boys, dodgeball in the sports hall. The girls left. Oh great, Jack thought. One hour, an angry Snotlout, a ball game where the target was to hit the opponents, and no Merida to watch their backs- what could possibly go wrong?

He looked at Hiccup.  
"Any good at dodgeball?" He asked, Hiccup shook his head.  
"You?" He asked back.  
"Absolutely no idea." He replied, truthfully.  
"Snotlout's got all the best players on his team." Hiccup pointed out.  
"Uh huh." Jack acknowledged.  
"And he's gonna be mad at us from break." Hiccup continued.  
"Yep. You psyched? Let's play!" Jack said, as each team took positions at opposite sides of the hall. A row of rubber balls cut middle of space between them- the boundary line. He noticed Hiccup glance at him like he was seriously hoping he was some secret dodgeball master.

The whistle blew. All of the other team squabbled over the balls, all of his team tried not to look like targets.

Naturally, Snotlout won one, and gave Jack a super-deluxe, evil, payback grin as he lugged it at him.

It was as if some instinct kicked in. One moment it was speeding towards his face and he was womdering why it couldn't have been a soft, spongy ball, the next it was bouncing off the wall behind him. Snotlout was looking severely annoyed at that. But if he was annoyed now, it was nothing to how he felt at the end of the match.

The flying balls, everywhere, almost reminded him of something. It was something he'd done a lot of, and was brilliant at. He wasn't sure what, but it was like his brain just knew what to do. Get some ammo- he grabbed a nearby, rolling ball-, throw hard at unsuspecting victims- he threw it at one of Snotlout's goonies who was bending to pick up another ball, it bounced off his rear (just because he was so skilled) causing the kid to yell an indignant "Hey!"- wait, that was a girl?! A blur in he corner of his eye brought him back to the game. Dodge oncoming projectiles, retaliate with some of your own. Never stay still. Never turn your back. Use your eyes to spot an advantage. Take out the biggest threats. Laugh as they land on their rear. He was pretty good at this- what was it it reminded him of? No idea, but he didn't care. He was winning.

He even rescued Hiccup from a scrape or two, pushing him out of the path of an oncoming ball he didn't notice, probably because he was gawping at Jack's dodgeball awesomeness. Seriously, he could have been playing this thing for centuries!

He got Snotlout out right at the beginning, so all hrumpy old Snot could do was simmer in the sidelines, and watch as Jack, nearly single handedly, whooped his team's butts- all fourteen of them.

The match barely lasted a few minutes, before Jack had took out the entire team- almost completely on his own. His team practically raised the roof with their cheers. He doubted the ones whom Snotlout didn't choose for his team had ever won anything against Snot before.

By the end of the lesson Merida and Rapunzel were surprised to see Hiccup and Jack, not only with all their limbs intact, but smiling and cheering with their teammates, as they chatted excitably about their numerous victories. Jack laughter rose as he spotted the girl's dumbstruck faces.

Back in the changing rooms, he was Mr Popular, for half of the room, and was disappointed to have to leave the group to go to his private tutoring.

He walked into the school's special needs section. Basically, a couple of rooms where he and a few other kids, who needed extra help, got taught, or got given anger management sessions, or whatever else the "special" kids needed. He'd already struggled through a few hours worth of reading, which he still thought wasn't as good as audiobooks, and he wasn't looking forwards to getting back to it. Luckily, the god of annoying school tasks seemed to be giving a break, because it turned out he would be doing something different this lesson. He wasn't sure about this, different could swing either way.

"Most children, by now, are writing letters to their penpals in the school of Wensmore, Burgess- which they'll be visiting at the end of next month, and since it wouldn't be fair if you were left out, we've arranged for you to have a chat with your penpal on a private, online chat room."

Penpal? He didn't know what to make of that, but, still, it had to be better than another reading lesson, and at least he didn't have to write. The poor kid who got the letter would probably think they had to decipher some ancient Arabic language.

The learning support assistant- he thought that was what she'd called herself when they'd first met- led him through to a room with several computers lined up against the wall, one of which was switched on and already set up on, what he guessed must be, the chatroom.

"Are they there?" He asked, sitting beside the support teacher person so that they could both see the screen.  
"Let's find out." She replied, she typed in:  
_Hello. Are you there._  
...and clicked send, or post, or whatever it was- he didn't want to read it after that morning's overload of letters. After a while, a reply popped up onscreen, his- he'll just call her a teacher read it out to him:  
_Yep, I'm here!_  
Another one followed it, shortly after:  
_What's your name? :-D._  
Jack grinned, he liked this kid already.  
"Jack. What's yours?" He said, outloud. His teacher typed up what he'd said, and, at his insistence, added a smily face of their own- send.

He waited for the reply, already curious about this random kid from Burgess, he seemed pretty awesome, and that was just judging from the smiley face on the previous message.

His reply popped up:  
_Jamie Bennett, nice to meet you Jack. :-)_


	8. Chapter 8

Memory loss chapter 8- meeting the penpals  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: and here's update number two^^ back up to speed now so it will be back to daily updates as usual from now on^^ also I think somewhere I said it was a modern au- I kinda guessed what it meant but it turns out I was wrong so it actually isn't an au. That aside I hope you enjoy it! Please leave a review you all know how much I love getting them and I will see you all tommorow with the next chapter!**

Finally.

She was glad to get out of that coach. It wasn't that small, but they'd been in it for almost an hour, and as much as Jack was a good friend, when he got bored, he got annoying.

Singing ten thousand green bottles which Merida stopped after the third round, he then went on to tapping annoying tunes on the back of Merida's chair, he breathed on the window and drew drawings of Merida with a bedhead- which was basically just a mass of squiggly curls (she was surprised Merida managed to resist the urge to hit him over the whole journey), in eye spy he saw "something beginning with N" "Not Wensmore" and sang the bored song (B-O-R-E-D repeated over and over to pretty much any tune you could think of).

So, all in all she, was glad to out in the open.

She couldn't wait to meet her penpal, who loved unicorns, ballet and the colour pink- she wondered whether Cupcake would be the sweet, little girl she imagined her to be.

Jack thought about his penpal, Jamie. He sounded like a really nice kid. He'd told him about his little sister, Sophie (who couldn't decide whether she wanted to be a fairy or a bunny when she grew up), and he, in return, told him about the annoying red head, with anger issues, that was Merida, the drawing obsessed, dragon loving, but still cool, Hiccup and the long haired, pretty and sweet Rapunzel, who apparently was penpals with his friend Cupcake, and from the sounds of things Rapunzel was in for a shock when they met.

Jack had shown off a bit about his tree climbing, and sword fighting skills, and asked if Jamie had done anything impressive. The response was a miniature essay about how he'd helped the Guardians (the Sandman, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa Claus) defeat the Boogeyman, Pitch Black, by overcoming his fears, and turning the evil nightmare sand into good dreamsand. But he couldn't have done it without Jack Frost- an awesome, flying, snow creating boy, who restored his belief in the Guardians, and later became one of them.

When Jamie talked about Jack Frost, they sometimes got confused about which Jack they meant, he talked about him a lot. Apparently Jack Frost did all his fancy ice and snow stuff with a magic staff. Jack (not Frost) had laughed, and told him that if he ever found another magic staff to lend it to him so he could go flying.

Jamie's story was awesome. Most people would have said he was weird, but he reminded Jack of Hiccup. He liked the way he believed in the Tooth Fairy and all them, because of that strange notion he had about belief being important. He hadn't told Jamie about his memory loss, not wanting to make things complicated. Besides, it was like telling people you were mentally deranged you never knew how they would react. Perhaps he would tell him, now that they were about to meet in person.

He looked forwards to meeting the kid, but was disappointed to find out that they had to go through an annoying tour of the school first, which took the best part of an hour, and by then it was time for lunch, which, with a break, took another hour, and then, finally, they would meet their penpals.

The plan was to put the kids in groups to go certain classrooms- like Group A went to Classroom 1 etc. It took forever for both the visitors and the visited to get organised, and by then they were running over, so they wouldn't get as long as was planned. Jack was annoyed it took so long. They'd gone on a one hour coach journey of never-ending boredom to meet their penpals, and now, two to three hours after they arrived, they were finally going to meet them.

He was in Group C (for cool), but his classroom was on the other side of school, it was a decent walk to get there, wasting yet more time, but they finally got there.

Then they had to stand, awkwardly, and wait for the teachers to sort them out, one by one, with their partners. Jack scanned the kids sat around the room with empty seats beside them, and wondered which was Jamie.

Just when the crowd was beginning to thin, a voice crackled in, through a speaker in the classroom.  
"Can all visiting pupils please return to the main hall. Due to adverse weather conditions, we have to earlier than planned. We apologise to those of you who didn't have much time to get to know your partner properly, but the weather appears to to be taking a turn for the worst, and we need to leave immediately." Jack, along with many people in his group, was really annoyed. They hadn't even got to say a single word to their partners!

The teachers herded them out, but as they did, he heard a boy calling him.  
"Jack?!" The boy sounded astonished, disbelief also clear in his voice.

Jack turned to get a glimpse of him, and saw a brown haired boy staring wide eyed and open mouthed right at him, heedless of the funny looks his classmates were giving him.

Perhaps it was Jamie? He didn't know, but how did the kid know it was him? Before either of them could say a word, the crowd carried Jack outside.

They'd been right about the weather, an ugly, black cloud now plastered across the sky, thundering dangerously. Strange, he was sure it had been relatively sunny when they had arrived.

He sighed, well wasn't today just brilliant. At least it was the end of term. The trip had been organised for the last day, so when they got back they were home free. He looked up again at the black cloud, and chuckled quietly. Perhaps it was Jamie's Boogeyman getting ready for Halloween later that week.

Jamie Bennett stared at the place that the white haired boy had occupied moments earlier, gobsmacked. After so long... could it really have been him?! It had to be. He'd recognise that face anywhere!

He'd been worried sick about his guardian brother since he vanished last winter, and what with that incident involving Pitch and the Guardians earlier that year... he thought he'd never see him again. What was he doing at school? He didn't have the faintest idea, but he did know the moment he got home, he was going to go straight into his bedroom, and breaking open the snowglobe he kept in his drawers.

The Guardians had said they'd contact him if they found anything. He guessed things had ended up the other way round.


	9. Chapter 9

Memory loss chapter 9- trick or treating  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: back with the next one^^ spooky drama coming up! Hope you enjoy it^^ tommorow I'll post the next one as always- please review I really really love hearing what you think :-D until tommorow then enjoy the chapter!**

"Alright, be good, dears. Stay on the streets, and don't cause any trouble- Jack, Merida." Elinor called to their retreating backs.  
"Merida, no flying on your broomstick. Hiccup, no biting, and, Rapunzel, no brains." Jack continued, grinning.  
"I still say yours isn' much of a costume." Merida said, looking at his torn old clothes.  
"Hey, I didn't know Rapunzel was also going to be a Zombie!" He reasoned.  
"I feel so silly. My hair looks stupid with this costume." Rapunzel complained.  
"Which also isn't, really, a costume." Merida pointed out in an undertone.  
"I know! Mother only agreed to let me come two hours ago, so there wasn't much time." She moaned, sadly.  
"We could cover you in mud, and say youre a werewolf?" Jack suggested.  
"No way." Merida, bluntly, declined on Rapunzel's behalf. Well, it looked like Hiccup was going to be the only one to use his head- as usual.

"I've got an idea." He said, reaching out and grabbing a piece of her hair. She eyed him, nervously, he knew she was sensitive about her hair.  
"It's okay. Look. He told her, winding the hair round her arm as a makeshift bandage. Merida laughed.  
"Nice. Built-in costume." She grinned.  
"Forget what I said about brains- you are now free to eat all the brains you want- just don't try to put Elinor out of the job." Jack smirked.  
"Ewww!" Rapunzel exclaimed at the first bit, Merida scoffed.  
"Boys." Hiccup sighed.  
"Well, are we doing this, not." He queried.

With three (occasionally four) pairs of hands at work, all wrapping golden blond strips around her body, it didn't take long for her Halloween costume to be completed. It made it a little difficult for her to move, but she was so excited with it, she didn't care. She only asked to keep her face free, which was fair enough, and pretty soon, their group of Zombie, Witch, Vampire and Mummy, were wandering down the street, in search of chocolate and sweets.

Hiccup reflected on how each of them got their costumes, as they walked towards the first house. Jack with his pale complexion and white hair, decided he could easily pull off the zombie look. Merida, because of her mad hair and the old family witchey legend, was a witch, and he had surprised the others, by not choosing a dragon, but a vampire. A part of him did want to choose a dragon, but he decided to go for something different this year- besides, the big wing like cloak, and large pointy teeth, did bear some resemblance to a dragon.

As they reached the door, Merida knocked.  
"Trick or treat!" They all yelled, Hiccup with less enthusiasm than the others. He wasn't massively keen on trick or treating, but he tagged along behind the others anyway.

As he stood waiting for his sweets, another cry of "trick or treat" next door drew his attention along the street. A couple of houses had decorated, but nothing special, two other groups of trick of treaters made their way along the street.

He almost looked back, when he spotted a dark figure standing in the shadow of a lampost.

Probably someone's idea of a Halloween joke, but he couldn't help but think it looked familiar. It creeped him out. Something about him/it made him shiver, and not because of the cold. The hairs on the back of his neck pricked up. The longer he looked- something shoved him forwards, scaring the life out of him.  
"Come on, Count Scaredy Cat. Do you want your sweets, or not?" Merida said, pushing him again.

A kindly woman, holding out a large pumpkin pot of sweets stood in front of him.  
"Don't worry- I personally guarantee that no garlic is in there." The woman joked, he smiled fleetingly, unable to rid the image of the freaky man from his mind. He couldnt escape the awful feeling hed been looking at them.

He grabbed a handful of sweets, and shoved it into his own, smaller, pumpkin pot.

As the woman waved them off, he glanced back at the lamppost. He was gone. No sign of him anywhere. Okay... little spooky, he thought, not freaking out, then he jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder.  
"Come on, Hiccup you're not staying back here all night are ya?" Jack said, sliding back to walk beside him- Hiccup would have pointed out that that was what he did every Halloween, but he wasn't in the mood. Jack was grinning happily, until he saw the look on his face, then his grin slipped slightly.  
"Um... everything okay?" He asked.

Hiccup thought he spied the man, he saw by the lamppost, behind the bush over Jack's shoulder- but when Jack turned to see what he was looking at, it vanished.

"Fine, just fine. Everything is fine. Couldn't be finer. It's a really fine day-er night, don't you think?" Hiccup babbled, voice slightly higher than usual. Jack raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Hiccup, you're not freaking out like you did at Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit, are you?" Merida smirked.  
"What? Seriously?!" Jack laughed, Hiccup bowed his head in embarrassment.  
"The transformation bit made me nervous." He sulked, smiling a little, despite himself.  
"Nervous?" Merida laughed. "Ya near wet yaself!" Everybody was laughing by now, and Hiccup began to relax a little.  
"Alright, so I was scared of a giant cartoon rabbit." He admitted. "Now, come on, let's go get some treats!"

Merida and Jack exchanged a devilish look.  
"Best thing you've said all night." Merida said, heading towards the next house.  
"Err, what are you two up to?" Hiccup asked. Jack tried to put up a false face of innocence, and failed.  
"Nothing." He said. Both Hiccup and Rapunzel gave him the look.  
"What? It's trick or treat, isn't it? We just thought it was about time we did some actual tricks." He told them, before going after Merida.

Hiccup glanced at Rapunzel, her face mirrored the same "uh oh" look he had, they ran to catch them up.

They walked on, tricking the houses that didn't treat- and ocassionally tricking the ones that did, just because. But all through the street, Hiccup couldn't get rid of the little niggling feeling, in the back of his mind, that something was watching them.

"Come on, let's cut through the park and go to the big houses up there." Merida suggested.  
"But didn't Elinor say to stay on the street." Rapunzel pointed out, sounding nervous. Merida rolled her eyes.  
"Come on, it's only the park." She said. Rapunzel, still uncertain, looked at Jack.  
"Yeah, come on, it's only a shortcut. We'll be in and out in no time." He decided. Well that settled it. They made for the park, which suddenly seemed like a bad idea when they got there.

The park was on the far side of the forest, and the trees seemed to press down on them from all sides. The darkness suddenly felt a lot thicker, everything was too quiet.

They moved slowly, as a group, past the slide and the swings. A chill howling wind blew past the swings, making the chains creak as they swung slightly. Hiccup couldn't help but feel a shiver down his spine as he walked, that nagging feeling of danger he had all night, growing, with every passing second, and he found himself looking at every twitch of movement. Every single little leaf that fluttered, like his terrified heart.

Strangely, Rapunzel was the one to break the suffocating silence.  
"Guys, um... am- am I the only one who thinks were being watched?" She asked, timidly. Merida snorted,  
"Probably just a bunch of kids trying to scare us." She said, perhaps not quite as boldly as she would normally have done- so she did feel it. Hiccup noticed how Jack hadn't said a word, but rather, was scanning the area as though looking for something. He wasn't smiling anymore, none of them were.

Rapunzel spoke again, this time in such a quiet voice, they only just heard her.  
"Has- has anyone else been seeing that guy, that, just... keeps appearing, everywhere- watching us?" Hiccup felt dread rush through him. Oh gods, he'd been hoping he'd imagined it.  
"You too?" He asked, trying to keep a shake out of his voice.  
"Mm hmm." she murmured, more of a squeak than a hum. By now they were all backed up against each other, all of them scanning the darkness surrounding them, fearfully. A snapped twig made Hiccup's heart leap. They all gasped, Rapunzel squealed.  
"Sorry." Merida whispered. They continued watching the darkness, hardly daring to breathe, and then, just as they were starting to decide they were overreacting over nothing- they heard it.

It might have been a howl of wind, except the wind didn't scream. The screaming was almost mechanical, weaving its was was into the wind to make a hair raising, unnatural sound, that terrified them.

So silent, and so camouflaged by the darkness, they almost didn't notice its appearance. A jet black shape slipped into the park.

Hiccup was the first to spot it, and he stiffened, his breathing suddenly very loud and unsteady. He subconsciously tried to back away, bumping into the others, who turned and blanched at the sight of it. Merida looked as though she'd frozen, horrorstruck by the thing before them. Rapunzel was trembling, severely, she appeared to trying to shrink into herself- so mindlessly terrified, her breathe quickened into quick wheezing gasps. Whimpers sometimes puntuating the rush of air sounding from her, signifying pure terror. Jack too stood still, afraid and full of horror at the sight of it, but there was an terrible kind of recognition in his expression that was almost worse to watch than Rapunzel, and that told Hiccup that, maybe, he was more afraid than any of them.

It was some ghastly creature, vaguely resemblant of a horse, but strips of coal black ribbon-like things lined its neck and back, in the place of a mane and tail. It had golden eyes, alive with hatred and malice. A terrifying kind of aura surrounded it, as it stood, glaring at them- eyes narrowed with horrible, murderous intelligence. It scraped the ground with a hoof, and whickered with the grating sound of a chainsaw, before charging straight at them.

"Run!" The voice came from behind him. Jack's shout seemed to jolt everyone into action.

They scattered across the park, as the horse raced past. Rapunzel screamed in pure terror, but her scream was cut off too short, with a muffled yelp. At this, dreading what he might find, Hiccup turned, to see her laying sprawled in the dirt. Her hair had tripped her up. He cursed himself- why had he ever suggested using it as a stupid costume?!

The demonic horse had turned round, and was stomping its hooves in annoyance, tossing its head angrily- and then, it caught sight of the easy prey sprawled on the ground, and it stopped, lowering its head menacingly.

Rapunzel froze, breath coming in shudders as her eyes bugged out of her head. Oh gods, it was going to charge her, Hiccup thought. Merida was closest, and ran to her side, trying to help her up. The beast was about to charge them. What was Merida thinking? She'd get herself killed! No, that couldn't happen. If anything happened to her, he didn't know what he'd do. Hiccup tried to scream her name, but no sound came out. The beast pawed in preparation to charge, Hiccup raised an arm, instinctively, at her, overcome by a burning desire to keep her safe. He was about to do something foolishly stupid, when-

"Hey!"

Both Hiccup and the horse froze. The savage creature turned to face, the one person, Hiccup had hoped had got away. Jack, waving his arms above his head, stood at the other end of the park.

"Hey! Over here!" Upon catching sight of him, the demon's eyes flashed with triumph, or maybe recognition. It whinnied in that spine chillingly unnatural way, and turned to persue Jack. Hiccup tried yelling at it, hoping to confuse it, or distract it from its prey. No such luck. It wasn't about to be deterred- and the way it's eyes flashed when it spotted him, Hiccup had a feeling it was after him all along.

The sounds of its galloping and whinnies soon died out, as Jack led it further, and deeper, into the forest, away from them.

Hiccup raced to Rapunzel and Merida. They were fine- terrified, but fine. He stared off into the trees, he wished the same be said for Jack.

Not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, Jack just kept repeating in his head as he ran. He could here its pounding hooves just behind him. He knew this creature, he'd seen it before. But what was it? How could he stop it, or slow it, at least? A low hanging branch gave him an idea. Sticks! Sticks were useful against it. He a vague idea that a stick would help somehow, and he couldn't outrun it forever.

He was scared. More scared than he could ever remember being- and he'd had some pretty horrific nightmares. It was going to kill him, he knew it. He had to try something! He picked up a broken branch in mid sprint, and turned, swinging it towards the horse with all the force he could muster. As the horse ran past, the branch simply snapped against its side.

Uh oh, he thought, as it turned to face him again.

Darn it! Where had he got the stupid idea that sticks could defeat it? He was dead. He knew he was. He considered climbing a tree, but there wouldn't be enough time before it got him.

Well, this is it, he thought, as it stomped its hooves at him. He was about to die, but at least Hiccup and the others were safe. He stood there. He was terrified, but he wasn't going to give that thing the satisfaction of seeing his fear. It charged.

He tried to stand his ground, but as creature came closer, he flinched and closed his eyes. It was over.

A quick whoosh as something small whipped past overhead, followed by a screech, like a dying scream, and a rough grinding sound, that dispersed on the wind... He opened his eyes, the horse was gone. What looked like black dust drifted across the ground, and air, from where it had last been. What? He was alive?... But how?

Whatever had destroyed it, flew back behind him to its master- was that a boomerang? Jack followed it, until a large paw snatched it out of the air.

He found himself staring at a giant, man sized rabbit


	10. Chapter 10

Memory loss chapter 10- grandad mini man bird girl and thumper  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: hey! Back with the next one! I have to say this is one of my favourite ones Ive written so far^^ so I hope you enjoy it! Please leave a review it really really makes the effort worth it but I won't keep you any longer- enjoy the chapter and I will be back with the next one tommorow!**

The rabbit- if you could call it that- was staring at him like he was a ghost.  
"Jack?" He said, as though hardly daring to believe it. As if the sight of a giant, talking rabbit hadn't been enough, it also, somehow, knew his name.

He blinked, astonished, and somewhat freaked out- well, considering he'd almost been murdered by a dust horse, and was now face to face with a rabbit nearly twice as big as he was, who could blame him.  
"By the Man in the Moon, is it really you?" He wasn't sure who was gaping more, himself or the rabbit- who's mouth was open so wide, Jack couldn't keep from staring at its overly large buck teeth.  
"Um. what?" He managed.  
It took a step towards him, and Jack took a few back- he did not want this giant man-rabbit killing him just after he survived the horse. Confusion and hurt flashed across his face.  
"Jack?" He (he thought it was a he) said, questioningly.

Finally, Jack recovered use of his tongue.  
"How do you know my name?" He asked, perhaps a little more harshly than was necessary. Further confusion appeared on its face.  
"Jack. It's me." It said, taking another step forwards. This time, Jack didn't back off. What- did he somehow, know, this giant rabbit? This was beyond weird.  
"Jack, come on, mate, this ain't funny, now." The rabbit said, he sounded panicked now, but he definitely spoke to him with familiarity, as though he really did know him, and- wait... was that an Australian accent? At what point in his life did he come across a big, freaky Australian rabbit.  
He'd already decided it wasn't a costume. Unfortunately, it was just too lifelike.

"Bunny? Are you in here? You've been awful quiet, lately." Another voice drifted in through the trees. A part of him thought- seriously, the rabbit's name is Bunny? The rest of him thought, what was it now? A giant, Russian wombat? Not quite.

In fact, forget what he said about the rabbit being giant- this guy here, was massive! Just a normal guy, mind- if you count the massive below-his-knees beard as normal.

The man stopped when he saw him, and stood stunned for a moment. Then walked forwards, with a broad grin on his face. He laughed happily.  
"Jack!" He exclaimed. Again, Jack backed up- what on earth is going on? he thought. The Russian man stopped, and frowned at him.  
"Is something de matter?" He asked. Right, that did it. He'd had enough of this madness.

"What? Seriously?! First, I nearly get trampled to death by the horse from hell. Then, Peter Rabbit, here, comes out all: Hey, Jack, I'm a giant, talking rabbit- which is completely normal by the way. And now there's, just..." He searched for the word. "You- giant beard guy- coming at me like you want a hug! So, all things considered, what the matter is, is that I'M GOING MAD!" He shouted.

They looked a little taken back by his outburst. He sighed.  
"Alright. First things first, Horsezilla back there- that did actually happen? Oh great, now I'm talking to things in my head- first sign of madness, well, doesn't that just prove it?" He rambled.  
"Err, no, that nightmare was real- and just I saved your life from it, so, your welcome." The rabbit said, clearly irritated from the Peter Rabbit thing. Of all that, though, Jack only zeroed in on one word.  
"Nightmare?" He asked, curious, he knew that name. The rabbit laughed, while the man in the big red coat studied him.  
"Right, so you're telling me you don't remember the Nightmares, or Pitch- or even us, I suppose." He said, looking like he expected him to burst out saying "Gotcha" at any minute. But, as he saw Jack's blank, lost face, he realised.  
"Oh gosh... that's it, isn't it. He really doesn't remember us."

Apparently, the big man came to the same conclusion.  
"You don't remember Tooth? Or Sandy?" He asked, Jack just shook his head, slowly, like he was doing so at a lunatic. "You don't remember the time you froze Bunny to the tree... or the time you made us all Easter eggs? Or the time you froze Bunny's-." His questions were interrupted rather quickly, by the rattled, and now severely annoyed, Bunny.  
"Really, you're gonna bring that up, now?" He muttered, furiously.  
"Just checking." The man reasoned.  
"Look, I really don't have any idea who, or what, you two are, but- wait... if you know me, then... can you tell me who I am?" He asked, he couldn't believe it- finally, he would get an answer! Sure, it was from big Australian bunny, and even bigger Russian man, but it beat spooky drawing guy, any day.

They both stopped their arguing, and looked at him. Astonished, and a little saddened, by this news.  
"You do not even know that." The man said, quietly. Jack shook his head.  
"But, you know, don't you? You can tell me!" He said excitedly. The big man opened his mouth to answer, when a soft swirling noise made him look to his right... and then, Jack saw a person who challenged even the rabbit for weirdness.

He was tiny, half the size of Jack, but he was gold. Not tanned, literally. All of him, skin, clothes, hair, you name it, all of it was a sunshiny gold- and if his appearance wasn't odd enough, his entrance was. He floated down on a little golden cloud of- what? Sand, was that? Whatever it was, it shifted and swirled about underneath his feet, but it didn't seem menacing. Quite the opposite, it had a gentle calming quality, and, for the first time since he went in the park, Jack felt himself relax a little.

Just as the others had, the golden man grinned happily as he drifted towards him, waving a friendly hand, but not saying a word, for some reason. The Russian guy reached out a hand, and held him back.  
"He doesn't remember, Sandy. He's forgotten all of us." He doesn't even know who he is?" He informed.

The little person, Sandy, looked over at him with a little sorrow in his eyes, but also with a kind of sympathy, and caring concern, that made his gaze friendlier the other two. Their looks were making him uncomfortable, but he would bear with it, though, if it would get him answers.

He was about to repeat the question, when a fourth voice sounded.  
"Jack!" He barely had time to turn, before a green-blue blur tackled him. What the-? He thought, as several things registered- one, some random woman was hugging him- two, this woman had appeared from nowhere- three, was that feathers he felt under his fingers... and- four, she had wings on her back. He thought he'd seen it all with the talking rabbit, flying tiny man, and the beard, but, no, feathery bird lady had to come along and shock him all over again.

She pulled back from the hug to look at him. She looked so relieved she was almost tearful, and her bright smile was so happy, it was a shame when it vanished. Her happiness seemed to fade a little.  
"Jack? Why are you looking at me like-" She gasped. She'd been staring into his eyes the whole time, and now, she recoiled as though she'd been slapped.  
"No." She muttered. "No, no." She held his head in her hands. "Jack. Tell me you remember. Please, tell me you can remember!" She seemed almost on the verge of tears again, this time it was anything but happy. He could only shake his head, wishing now, more than ever, he had an answer where there was only blank space in his head.

"Jack!" Another voice, this time one he recognised.  
"Hiccup." He'd been so distracted, the whole time, he'd forgotten about his friends. He turned behind him, and heard the sounds of three sets of footsteps coming towards him. At least that meant they were all ok, but how would they react when they met Thumper, Grandad, Mini man and Bird girl? Sheesh, it sounded like a bunch of lame superheroes. Rapunzel, especially, would freak.

He turned to them, not sure what to say, or do, but, luckily, it looked like they did.  
"Sandy, knock 'em out... all of them." The Russian man told the the small person. Sandy nodded, sadly, then gathered, what looked to be, a ball of sand in his hands.  
"Wait! Just tell me who I..."

He didn't even get to finish the question. He barely felt the sand hit his head, but the next thing he knew, he was spiralling into a deep sleep.

Tooth couldn't believe it. Even with all the evidence staring her in the face- even after looking into his eyes, and seeing for herself the lack of memories there, she still struggled to believe it. After all this time, all that worry, all that heartbreak- and when they finally find their precious boy, he doesn't have clue who they are.

That knowledge hit Toothiana the hardest. She was the Guardian of memories, and yet, twice, she had failed, to protect the memories of her dearest friend. It cut her up inside. All her hundreds of fairies, protecting and guarding the memories of children all over the world, but, despite everything, Jack had still lost all his memory... again. It had been bad enough the first time, but now, knowing that it was memories of her and all her friends missing, it was oh so much worse. It was far more personal, and she swore that as long as she was the Tooth Fairy, she would help him get his memories back.

Pitch would pay for this. How dare he. How dare he mess with someone's innermost, important, defining parts of their mind. How could he take away the part of Jack which made him Jack. Has he even the person she knew anymore? Would he ever be the same again-No, she couldn't afford to think like that. She had to stay strong, and stay logical. She had to figure out a way to solve this.

She listened to the ongoing conversation between Bunny and North.  
"- How can this happen, mate? He doesn' remember any of us! He doesn't even know, who he is! What's going to happen this winter, when there's no Jack Frost to spread all the snow and the fun? I mean he's-." He broke off, before he said something embarrassing. "I mean, why, North- it's always him. Why? He's already lost his memory once, isn't that good enough? Months an' months o' worry over that kid, an' then there was... you know..." They did know. Tooth remembered, all too well, that dreadful day.

Jack had disappeared 5 months earlier, not a sign, or a trace of him, anywhere. Jamie had gone out of his mind with worry- it wasn't like Jack to vanish right in the middle of winter, especially having promised a snowball fight that very next day.

Then, on July 24th, Pitch had appeared. Too weak to appear at Guardian's stronghold, he'd appeared at the warren instead. They'd all assembled quickly, in case the need for a fight arose. None did, and yet, when Pitch had left, each of them felt more wounded, than they had if they'd been physically stabbed.

They had asked him where Jack was, demanded he return him, that he let him go. It didn't take a genius to figure out that when a guardian goes missing for as long as five months, and then Pitch turns up with a casual joke about how they all needed to "chill", he had something to do with it. Pitch had just laughed at their requests, and said.  
"Oh dear Guardians, if only I could. I'm afraid little Jackie was being quite an annoying little pest- always breaking out. It was irritating, though a little amusing, having cage him up again. If only he'd stayed put and been a good little prisoner... but I'm getting sidetracked. I'm afraid to tell you, that Jack is no longer with us." They had gone silent, refused to accept it, called him a liar... until he he brought out a long, familiar stick, and threw it at the ground in front of them.

Jack's staff. He never went anywhere without it, and if their had been any doubt about him actually being dead- the dimness of the staff, and the dull smears of red along it, had confirmed their worst fears. The only way it would be that dim was if he really was...

Tooth had charged at Pitch, ready to smack him in the face, but he vanished. Leaving them with the staff of their lost friend, and his cackling laughter that faded away into silence.

They'd even had a ceremony for him. Unlike Sandy's, which had been full of golden candlelight, this one had been filled with soft, pale blue lights- reminiscent of the beautiful skies he flew in, and the eyes that had twinkled so everything he successfully annoyed Bunny. The wind had blown in to mourn her friend, and companion, bringing with her hundreds of glittering snowflakes to celebrate the boy's memory. But now, it seems, they had all been wrong.

Jamies message to all of them had kickstarted their belief in what, even Bunny, had given up hope on.

They'd searched around the area of the school Jamie had said visited, and now, they'd found him. Pitch must have used some kind of dark magic to trick even the staff, into thinking he was dead. But how had he done it?

"I know, Bunny. It is hard. North's voice brought Tooth back to the present. "But, at least, he is still alive." He finished, walking over to crouch beside the sleeping boy. "What confuses me, is how he managed to trick everyone into believing he is dead." Tooth landed next to him, and pondered the same thing, when something struck her.

He seemed different- more grounded. It no longer looked as though the slightest breeze would pick him up off his feet- and also, looking closer, she could tell he looked... older.

It had only been eight months, but, no doubt about it, he looked a little older. Jack never looked older. Not in all the years she'd known him, had he ever aged a single day. He was immortal- he shouldn't age.

That was it. Jack was mortal again.

He no longer had the same spirit energy that let him work his staff, so it had gone dull- like it would if he had died, but instead he was quite the opposite. He was alive. He was mortal.

She reached out and touched his hand. That confirmed it, it wasn't nearly as cold as it would be, had he still been Frost. She caught North's eye, as one of the oldest and most experienced in magic, he too had figured it out- but he silently bid her keep it quiet, at least until they got back to the Pole.

"Right, we need to get them home. He mentioned Hiccup earlier, no?" Tooth nodded, and Sandy walked them over to three more sleeping kids. "Ah yes, Hiccup- and this is his sister, through adoption, Merida. They both live at number 32 evermore street." He walked to the last girl. "Ah, Rapunzel. 13 foxglove avenue." Bunny stared at North.  
"How do you remember these things?" He asked, North chuckled.  
"When you've gone round the world as I have, many, many times. You start remember the streets pretty well, and i remember these three being on the nice list- well, Merida was sometimes on the naughty list- but they're not very common names." He explained, with a hint of pride.  
"North, when you've finished showing off- perhaps we should take these kids home?" Tooth pointed out.  
"Hmm, yes. As the Dunbrochs have already adopted Hiccup, it makes sense that Jack would live there, too. But I'll double check later. I'll take Rapunzel home. You three take the others- evermore street is just along that road on the right. Number 32. Sandy, knock out the parents so they don't panic." They all nodded.

Tooth picked up Jack, as North carried Rapunzel away. Sandy picked up Hiccup, since he was the lightest, so Bunny was left with Merida, who reflexively punched him in her sleep ("OW!").

As she flew off, Jack carried bridal style in her arms, she couldn't help but notice how wrong it was. He was too heavy, and far too warm. But, as he held him, he stirred in his sleep, and murmured.  
"Stupid kangaroo." She laughed, a little, holding him closer. Tears almost welling, as she felt her hope rise.

The hope that Jack Frost, her little snowflake, was still in there somewhere.


	11. Chapter 11

Memory loss chapter 11- a funny looking box  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: hey^^ sorry can only post this quick so I can't say much but next chapter as always will be tommorow I hope you enjoy this one and please leave a review (massive thanks if you already have every one makes me smile so much :-)**

It was near the end of November, and Jack couldn't help but think about those little weird things.

Ever since Halloween, strange things just kept happening- and that's not counting the weird dream he had on Halloween itself, well sort of it is, because it was a dream.

Ever since he could remember, which was still only as far as July, he'd had nightmares. Getting chased in darkness, running for his life through darkness, being caged in darkness, even getting beaten in, you guessed it, darkness. But ever since Halloween, he'd been getting dreams- nice dreams, and although, granted, they were weird even by Halloween's standards, he much preferred it to darkness.

One had a bunch of hummingbirds flying round kids heads, and going back to a massive, palace/nest thing. Another had walking eggs, that seemed to like swimming. Another one, a rare normal one, had a snowball fight with a bunch of kids- and then the next night he'd had a dream with abominable snowmen and flying, mechanical ducks, jellyfish, turtles, you name it.

Yeah, he had no idea what to make of them- they were weird. But the strangeness didn't end when he woke up, oh no, strange things happened when he was awake aswell.

One day, Merida called him "Frostbite". She had no idea why either, apparently some guy had tipped her off that it'd annoy him- it didn't, though, it only confused him- and, apparently, a similar tip off told her to pinch him hard on the nose. Another time, at school, he came across this weird, giant, glass ball- well, more like he picked it up for a few seconds, then threw it away. His name on the register changed to Jack Frost. Something cold and wet hit him on the back of the head- he'd thought it was snow, until he realised it hadn't snowed since last year. The wind seemed to suddenly pick up whenever he went outside.

You get the idea. The events were crazy, and random, and- oh, he almost forgot- his penpal had been acting odd.

Jamie kept casually throwing similarities between him and Jack Frost into the conversation. If he got a pound everytime the kid said "like Jack Frost" he'd be pretty rich by now (speaking of penpals, they'd reorganised the trip to Wensmore, they'd be going after the winter holidays). He recalled how many times Jamie had said it today. He'd actually counted. Sixteen, over a twenty minute web chat. He'd said "like Jack Frost" sixteen times- they were still web chatting, because his writing still looked like an eight year olds.

Anyway, enough thinking about those things, he had to get to bed. He shook his head to clear it. It was far too late for deep thinking- and it was out of school hours. He wasn't massively tired, but Elinor said to get to bed, so he was going to do: get in the bed- and probably listen to music, or something, for an hour, or so.

He grabbed his earphones, already attatched to his iPod, shoved them in his ears, and jumped into bed. He cracked his head against something, under the pillow.  
"Ow! What?" He yanked out the earphones, and lifted to pillow, to reveal a strange box.

It looked a little like a cylinder, that had been chopped in half, longways, and had new circles attatched to either end. He picked it up- what on earth was this thing? It had diamond shapes decorating the chopped side, and a kid's head on one of the ends. Strange... the kid looked a little like him- except he had white hair, and blue eyes, this kid's hair and eyes were brown.

He sat up, and as he did so, heard something rattle inside it. Ok, now he needed to know what was inside. He searched for a way to open it. Hmm, the middle diamond looking bigger and higher up than the others- was it a secret button? What if he pressed it...

Slowly, the thing opened, and it was as though it was opening a door in his mind too. Scenes flickered about in his head, he might have discarded them as hallucinations, or whatever, but he knew what they were. Memories. He knew it in the same way he knew how to breathe. He remembered all the different moments, but they felt distant- like they'd happened a long time ago.

He was running away from his sister- that's right! He remembered he had a sister! Emma Louise Overland. Did that mean his surname was Overland? She was chasing after him.  
"Jack." She laughed. "Come back!" They were out picking wild berries and mushrooms with their mother-... strange, he couldn't remember her name. She was also calling to him  
"You can't have fun all the time, Jackson." (Was that his full name? No wonder he changed it to Jack- Jackson was a bit of a mouthful) ,and like a typical, good, little boy, he carried on running. His sister following, giggling, as his mother rolled her eyes with a smile. The memory ended, just as another one took its place.

He was up in a tree, before he flipped down to hang by his knees- like he'd done to scare Rapunzel- spreading his arms just to show off a little. As he swung, he caught blurred glimpses of the assembled crowd of children beneath- Emma amongst them.  
"Jack, get down from there." he heard her saying, trying to be her mother, but she didn't fool him. The broad, giggling grin on her face betrayed her. She enjoyed watching her big brother acting like a goon, and being silly,- and that was what spurred him on to do it. He wanted, more than anything to keep that bright, little smile on her face- her and the other kids. Making them smile was his daily goal.

Another memory appeared. They were indoors this time. He held a pair of antlers to the top of his head, and stomped about the place. He was telling them a story, and right now, he was the big, daft deer, stomping through the forest, singing terribly. He put on an awful, deep yodelling voice, and sang a nonsense song- which he made up on the spot. It went a little like:  
"I am a deer, and I'm singing a song. The singyest song you ever heard. La la la la le, and, le la le la lu. Oh don't I just sound wonderful..." All the kids were laughing hard, and Emma was clapping happily. She'd come up with the idea, for a story about a singing deer a few days ago, and was loving every second  
"You're funny, Jack!" One of the kids told him. He grinned, and launched into the next verse- which was even goofier than the last.

The next memory appeared. Emma was tugging incessantly at his hand, as she led him out the house. He felt a pair of ice skates dangling over his shoulder.  
"Be careful." Came his mother's voice behind him, he chuckled a little as Emma's tugging increased, because he'd slowed, and turn to their mum.  
"We will." He promised, Emma tugging him away from the house, as their mother waved them off.

He was on the frozen lake now, but he'd put his skates to one side, and was crouched, barefoot, on the ice. Emma was stood petrified, as the web of cracks beneath her skates shuddered, and cracked. He reassured her it was going to be alright, she wasn't going to fall in, when, secretly, he was terrified that exactly that would happen. But he forced himself to stay calm, for her sake. He searched his mind for anything to help relax her, whilst, at the same time, he thought of a way to save her. He couldn't stand to see her terrified.  
"We're gonna have a little fun instead." He tried, she was still scared, but hopefully, if he carried on, she might not be so scared. He noticed a thick, strong stick nearby- perhaps a shepherd's crook- it was hooked at one end... an idea formed in his mind.

"We're gonna play hopscotch... it's as easy as one, wooah! Two... three." He said, taking a step towards the stick for each number. Just before two, the ice had started cracking beneath his own feet, but he gave a big, overly fake wobble on one leg to stop her getting scared about it, and once he reached the stick, he noted that the ice was thicker here.  
"Now it's your turn." He said, holding the stick out towards her.

"One." She took a tiny step, the ice shuddered and creaked scarily. "That's it, that it." He muttered, she was almost within reach- if she just came a little closer...

"Two." She took another step, the ice gave a heart stopping snap, and she gasped in horror.

"Three." He grabbed her in the curve of the stick, and pushed her onto the thicker ice. She looked up at him, smiling. He did it, she was safe. He laughed wih relief, and stepped out to join her, but the push had landed him on the thin ice. The moment his foot left the ice, the floor suddenly vanished, and he fell. The last thing he saw, was his sister reaching out, calling his name, as he fell through the ice... and then everything went dark.

He gasped as that, the last of the memories, faded, the terror of drowning still with him. He clutched a hand to his chest, his deep breathing loud in his ears, heart pumping madly. Still alive. But how? He felt certain he had died there, and what was with the log cabins, and clothing? Everything looked as it might have hundreds of years ago.

He died. He felt certain of it was it- was that something to do with why his hair was white? Because that definately wasn't the hair colour of a regular, normal kid. This was mental! He got some of his memories back- real memories... and in them, he died, wore clothes that were outdated in, at least, the past two centuries, had brown hair and eyes, and...

He sighed, what was going on? What was his life? It definately wasn't normal. Normal kids wore normal clothes, had normal hair, and they didn't have memories of dying.

Was it reincarnation- was that it? Had some god, or Buddha person, looked at him and said: Hey, tell you what, for saving your sister, we'll give you a second chance- so we freak can freak you out, in a few months, with the knowledge that you died!

If that was true, why did he still feel a big, gaping memory gap. What happened to the rest of his memories? Why didn't he have them now? What- Zzzzzzzzzz.

He suddenly fell asleep, as a little golden man, who was checking on him, sent a golden tendril of dreamsand his way. He was freaking out, he had to do it.

The Sandman looked at his friend who no longer knew him. They'd failed. In the morning, he'd wake up, and believe his memories to be a dream- carrying on as if nothing ever happened. It was better than living with the knowledge of his death, but still...

Sandy couldn't help but feel a little upset at the failed attempt. They'd been working towards this all month- with their little hints here, there and everywhere. Their biggest hopes had been pinned on that memory box.

He picked up from where Jack had dropped it on the floor. He'd better take it back to Tooth, and tell the others. The plan had failed. He didn't remember.

Their best hope had failed them.


	12. Chapter 12

Memory loss chapter 12- christmas  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: hey^^ back with the next (yeah I know this chapter's the wrong time of year but I couldn't wait six months to post it) hope you enjoy it as always^^ there won't be any authors notes in the next few chapters as in going to my grandmas chalet in the countryside I will still post I promise but I probably won't be able to add these little notes before them^^ please review this chapter and I will be postin the next one tommorow as always! **

Honk! Honk! Honk! Merida jumped so hard she nearly hit the ceiling. What, in the name of sanity, was going-? She heard sound of quickly retreating footsteps, and a mischievous cackle told her.  
"Jack!" She screamed, ineffectually throwing a pillow at the doorway.

"Ugh."she groaned, slumping back onto her remaining pillow- darn idiot, what time was it? She looked at her beside cabinet. Nine 'o' clock, still too early for the holidays. Wait, she was forgetting something- what was she... her eyes fell on the brightly decorated sock hanging from her door. Yes! Christmas!

All sleepiness forgotten, she dived at the stocking, and shook it, upside down, so all the contents were dumped onto the bed.

Chocolate santa (average), wooden whistle carved like a falcon (nice), bag of chocolate coins (sweet), pile of real coins (awesome), a satsuma (why do people even bother putting that thing in there? It only ever gets binned, and- hold on, did that mean she'd been good or bad, oh well, not really that bothered), and a book entitled "The Art of Needlecraft". Honestly, her mother. Well that's going on the bookshelf where it'll never get touched again- that whistle though... hmm, that could be more useful. Ooh, just wait, she was gonna wake that little prankster up at the crack of dawn, but she'd have to wait, til then.

Wait, was Hiccup up?  
"You got the alarm clock treatment, too, huh?" Came the dreary, annoyed voice of Hiccup. Dang it, now who was she gonna annoy? "Fergus and Elinor aren't up yet. Do you think it's late enough?" He continued- ooh, Hiccup had just said the magic words. He saw the look on her face as she barged past him and protested. "Oh no. No, no, no. I, really, don't think you should-"

She blew hard, a loud, shrill whistle came from it. Her dad shot up.  
"Rally the men! It's... what... uh. Your daughter's found the whistle, love." He moaned, collapsing back onto his pillow. Elinor slid her feet off the side of the side of the bed.  
"What was your first clue?" She asked, irritably.  
"Ohh, can't I just have five more minutes?" Fergus pleaded.  
"Well, lets see, we've for three impatient kids waiting to go downstairs- one of which looks as he's about to attempt the banisters again- another of which, has a whistle, which a certain husband thought would be a good idea to put in her stocking." She argued.  
"Hey, it's a part of her heritage. Over four hundred years old, that thing is." Fergus countered.  
Ewww! Merida wiped hard at her mouth, making a mental note never to use that thing again.

"Uhhhh, come on! I'm dying of boredom, out here!" Jack's voice complained. Merida turned to see him pacing up and down the hall  
"I'm getting dizzy just watching him." Hiccup commented to Merida. Her dad came up behind her.  
"Alright, we're up. Now let's go an' see what Santa brought yeh!" Fergus said, somewhat more awake, with a big, boyish grin on his face. Merida rolled her eyes.  
"Don' ya think wer' a little too old to believe in Santa Claus." She asked, Jack gasped in mock pain, and clutched his chest.  
"You're never too old to believe in Santa!" He said, grandly, as though insulted. Merida shook her head- he'd recently decided that was going to be his personal life philosophy: never grow up.  
"So, I guess I'll just be the first down..." Hiccup taunted, slowly moving towards the staircase.  
"Outta the way, dragon boy." She yelled, yanking him out the way, and pelting down the stairs at top speed.

She considered waiting at the bottom, for the others, but then, couldn't be bothered. She heard Elinor yelling, reproachfully.  
"What have told you, about sliding down the banisters?!" A whoop of delight could be heard alongside her voice. She legged it into the lounge, the tree took pride of place in the middle of the room. Three huge piles of red, blue and green presents piled up around it. Like a bull, she headed straight for the red. How did she know those were hers? She was a red head, of course they were hers!

Jack flew in not long after, pausing temporarily at the remaining two piles. It wasn't so easy for him, there wasn't a white pile of presents. He went for the blue, and apparently got the right one because he didn't move. He looked at the door.  
"Should we wait for Hiccup?" He asked, indicating the door. In response, she shredded the paper off the one of the biggest presents. He grinned, and joined her in the tearing of the wrapping paper.

Hiccup came in not long after Jack did, and her mum and dad filed in at there own leisurely pace- by which point, she'd already unwrapped a new set of headphones, a new phone, a bunch of quality arrows, and one of those Christmassy chocolate selection boxes. She didn't wait around.

A few minutes later, and remnants of green, red and blue paper covered the floor like a colourful carpet. She wished Rapunzel was here, she would have loved to see the wee lass' expression as she opened her own presents-she'd be so giddily happy, and she'd probably be squealing with glee at each little present, singing a bunch of random Christmas songs, and trying to get them to join in. But she was having Christmas at her own house. Although they all knew she'd rather spend it with her friends, she'd had to stay with that devil of a mother of her's- sheesh that woman gave Merida the creeps.

She had reached the bottom of the pile, and now went back to look at them properly. One, in particular, caught her eye. A bow, more elegant, and curved than her current one- no doubt a family heirloom, she got an awful lot of them, but, wow- what a bow. She pulled the string experimentally- it bent smoothly, with a little more resistance than she was used to. That was good, it meant it would throw arrows further than her old one- she couldn't wait to test it out, but... she guessed she better get out her pajamas before she did. She couldn't be bothered getting dressed yet, though, so she looked across at what the others had got.

Hiccup had got a load of drawing and dragoney things, along with a few books- no surprise there, but Jack had got...

"Hey Airhead, what's that?" She asked, Hiccup looked up, curiously, from the blurb he was reading, and also looked at the long, strange gift Jack was holding. One end of it still wrapped in paper- bound so tightly, and with such skill, she thought it was a miracle he'd managed to unwrap any of it, at all. It looked like a long stick, but she guessed it was probably a staff, or a walking stick, or something.  
"No idea." He said, running his hand along it unwrapped end. The end still covered in paper was hooked, like a "C", and the wrapping had been folded and secured tightly round the curve. How on earth had her parents managed that? Still, this was priceless- she got a new bow, arrows and phone, and Airhead got a stick.

She laughed.  
"So, you're telling me you've got a stick! Somebody must have been on she naughty list!" She cackled.  
"Hey, don't diss the stick. This is my poking stick." He announced, demonstrating on Hiccup.  
"Hey, stop it- it's cold." He protested.  
"All the better to freeze you with." Jack grinned, prodding him again.  
"Hey, cut it out, come on." Hiccup moaned.  
"Jack, stop prodding Hiccup." Elinor ordered, Jack stopped, and looked at his fellow mischief maker- she read the message loud and clear. She picking up her new bow... and jabbed it at Hiccup.

"Oh, come on, that isn't fair!" He complained, as the others laughed. Fergus' laughter was cut short by a look from his wife.  
"Oh, come on, love. Lighten up, it's Christmas!" He bellowed, turning on the TV to put a cheesy music channel on. Her mum relaxed a little into an almost smile, as Merida continued to prod Hiccup- dodging around the book he was using as a shield. Wow, a Christmas miracle, Merida thought, she's behaving totally unladylike- and generally irritating- and not getting told off for it!

Her dad starting singing, loudly. She groaned, and hid behind a handful of wrapping paper.  
"Well, I wish it could be Christmas, everyday."  
"When the kids start singing, and the bells begin to play." To her surprise, Jack had joined in- her dad raised a triumphant fist at he and his fellow karaokeer, as they sang together.  
"Woah!" Hiccup shared an exasperated look with her, before shaking his head, and laughing like "what the hell", and, he too, joined the Christmas singing cult.  
"I wish it could be Christmas everyday." They all sang- the other two, boisterously, welcomed him into the singing club.

Merida couldn't help but laugh at the three boys, goofing around together. Then, she spotted the snow haired one waving her in.  
"Come on, Merida! Join the dark side!" She grinned, Hiccup was smiling at her next to him. She grinned and got up to join them.  
"Let the bells! Ring out! For Christmas!" Naturally, they'd just caught the end of the song, so the big dramatic finale came up- cue ridiculous arm gestures and dramaticness.  
"Why don't you give... your love... foor... Christmaaas!" They really went all out for the finale, and on the final big "Christmas", her dad flung an arm out, almost knocking over the tree, and sending them all into fits of hysterical laughter- even her mum.

By the time their laughter died down, the next song had come on. "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" Merida thought of the irony of the dry, grey pavements outside their house. Yep, they all were- it just didn't look like they were getting one. In fact, so far they hadn't had any snow all winter. It was really disappointing, usually the snow was theigh deep by now, but this year, no such luck. It looked like old man winter, or whatever guy (obviously it was a guy, they could never do anything right) was supposed to bring the snow, had been slacking off on his job.

"Alright you lot, time to get dressed." Elinor told them.  
"Aww, mom, do I have to?" Merida moaned.  
"Yes." She commanded. Merida groaned, but she complied. Hiccup and Jack following her as they trampled up the stairs.

Had she been at the back of their group, she would have realised that, for some reason, Jack was bringing the staff up with him.


	13. Chapter 13

Memory loss chapter 13- Christmas party  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

He didn't know why he brought it with him. It was like he acted on impulse. In fact, he didn't even properly register it was there, until he was in his bedroom, and when he did realise he was holding it, he wasn't in the least bit surprised- like he had meant to bring it along, like it was supposed to be with him.

He looked up and down the length entire length of twisted wood. Was it a joke, or prank, or when you were naughty for Christmas is that what you get- a stick?

Maybe it was from Jamie, he smiled as he remembered his request for a magical staff, like his pal Frost's. Yeah, it was probably from him. What powers did he say Frost had? Icy powers... and flying on the wind.

He held it up, and struck an impressive pose, grinning.

"Wind, make me fly!" He announced, jokingly. A great gust of wind rushed through the window, and swept him up off his feet. "WOAH!" He yelled, flailing his arms about as he balanced atop semi-nothingness. This was insane! He laughed.  
"Wahooo!" He whooped.  
"Jack?" Huh- Woah!- umph. At the slightest waver in his concentration, the wind vanished, and he fell- luckily, onto his bed.

He blew a relieved breath of air out, as Hiccup opened the door.  
"What are you doing in there?" He asked, bewildered, Jack grinned.  
"Just testing out my new magical staff." He answered, Hiccup raised a sceptical eyebrow. Elinor's voice drifted up the stairs.  
"Jack, what have I told you about jumping on your bed?" She scolded, Hiccup rolled his eyes, and left.

After that, Jack couldn't hold back his laughter any more. He had just flown- in his bedroom! Flew! So what it was more like hovering- it was awesome. Wait, if he could fly, did that mean he could...

He walked up to the windowsill, and, as though he just knew what to do, he drew the crooked end along the edge of the windowsill. Nothing happened. Did he need to announce it like with the wind? Or was he just not trying hard enough?

He tried again, this time focussing hard, and thinking: ice, or, he changed his mind: frost, he decided, thinking of Jamie's buddy. A soft crackling made him grin. A trail of swirling frost patterns spread across the windowsill, from where the staff touched it, until the whole thing was covered in a glistening, white cover. Wow... this was cool- ha, cool! Yep, it was definately that.

He was so tempted to climb out the window to go flying- he'd get better through practise- and freeze random stuff. But several things stopped him. One, he was already tired from those two little tricks. Two, if he left without warning the rest of the house would freak, and if he did give warning they'd freak at the staff. Three, it was Christmas. It was supposed to be a time for family, and, he couldn't explain it, but he just felt like he, wanted, a regular Christmas. Like he hadn't had one before... weird feeling, huh.

He was still reluctant to put the staff down, though. "White Christmas" still drifted in from downstairs... hmm, he thought. One last thing he just couldn't resist. He had no idea if he could actually do it- he couldn't remember if it was one of the things, Jamie said, the stick could do- but he'd give it a try.

He stood by the open window, pushing the staff out and up at the sky. He thought of big, white, fluffy flakes, and them coming down from the sky... At first nothing, but he kept concentrating, and, slowly, little, indistinct, grey shapes appeared, drifting gently towards the earth. Yes! He'd done it! This was beyond awesome. He'd just made it snow!

The only problem now- well, two, actually- was that he, really, didn't want to leave the staff behind, now. Still, problem two took care of that.

A sudden wave of exhaustion swept over him, and the staff slipped out of his tired fingers. He leant on his bed for a minute- sheesh, who knew snow could be so tiring?

He didn't even notice Merida come in, until she spoke.  
"Really, Airhead? I don't wanna get dressed eitha, but we have to. We're goin ta the family Christmas party." She told him.  
"Family Christmas party?" Jack repeated. "I thought this, was, your family?" He said, Merida rolled her eyes.  
"Och, you haven't seen the half of us, yet. We're goin in time for Christmas dinner, so ya betta get a move on... Oh, an' a word o' advice. Try not ta annoy any of 'em. These things can get pretty mad." She warned.  
"Hey, I can deal with mad. I've put with you, right?" He joked, walking up to the door. She smirked, and shoved him back onto his bed again.  
"Jus' get a move on." She repeated.

Jack grinned, and went to his wardrobe. Let's see- his first Christmas... should he go for normal wear, or all out wacky...

Merida wasn't joking when she said the parties could go a little mad. There were around a few hundred of them, all related, in one way or another. The dancing was going manic- you had to watch you didn't get knocked out, like that Makintosh kid, and the kareoke was booked for the next twenty eight songs. Loud, bulky men sang boisterously into the mic.

The woman sat and chatted, or else assisted in the cooking effort- which apparently consisted of fifty four turkeys. He didn't want to know how much of the other stuff there was.

When the meal itself was done, they all sat down at the three tables, which all spanned the entire length of the room. The whole room was bustling with laughter, conversation, distant Christmas music, and knives and forks.

About halfway through, one of the men started a belching competition. That was met with great enthusiasm- men, and women, started burping, left, right and centre. Jack himself let loose with a belter, only to have it rivalled by his red head nemesis. They belched back and forth, adding tricks into the mix- including the old invisible throw and catch. Pretty soon, half the table was watching their deep heated little match. Merida was preparing herself to counter a pretty impressive quake of a burp from Jack, when, suddenly, the whole room shook. Jack, and all the Dunbroch's covered their ears- even then, getting deafened slightly- all except the belch king himself.

As he ended it, the whole table erupted into applause, and hearty laughs. As Merida and Jack rocked forwards and backwards with laughter, trying to regain their breath, they conceded that the better belcher won.

Another, expected, burp- tiny, by comparison, but still noticeable- turned their heads towards a, now very red, thin boy. The laughter renewed, Hiccup appeared to be trying to shrink into his chair. Many of them, Merida, Jack and Fergus included were almost in tears now, in danger of landing their heads in their Christmas dinner. Jack patted his beet red brother on the back as he wheezed, and Merida beat her fist on the table.  
"I can't breathe." Jack laughed, as he performed that awkward, difficult task of attempting to survive, whilst laughing hysterically. Merida doing the same. Just when one of them were about to relax, the other made some weird breathy noise that set them all going again- Hiccup too, he had joined in a while ago, when the laughter proved too contagious to hold back.

When they were all panting, and the euphoria had died down a little, the main course ended. They were all full- and now slightly ill from laughing so much- though they they all managed to cram a little dessert in.

Sufficient to say, they returned home very full, very happy, and very content. There was only one thing that could make the day even better- Rapunzel.

He'd been thinking about the poor blond girl all day, imagining her having Christmas dinner at a table for two with her mother. It must have been so dull.

No matter, though, he had a plan. He just needed to wait until dark to put it into action. 


	14. Chapter 14

Memory loss chapter 14- sun and moon  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

He really wished he'd checked which one was foxglove avenue.

He wove through the endless web of streets surrounding their house, trying to remember the route they took when they were picking her up. At least it had given him some decent flying practise.

He was still very wobbly and embarrassingly poorly balanced, it took a great deal of focus and he fell, with the slightest distraction. Luckily, there's nothing like a good fall to jolt you back to attention, most of the the time he managed to catch himself again, before he hit the floor. But,the rare times he did hit the floor, he had to take a couple of minutes break to nurse his injuries. That and the breaks he also had to take due to exhaustion (flying was tiring) meant it was slow going.

Eventually, though, he found it. Right, which one was her house... that one, beside the alley. He'd recognise that alley anywhere, it was the one he woke up in around five months ago.

He drifted down into the alley, to rest a little, and gather his thoughts. Which window she was was easy- he recalled seeing her wave him off from her bedroom, it was the top left window. What to do if she was asleep? Well, he'd have to knock, and hope she woke up. If not, well, he'd have to come back tomorrow- and he really didn't want to do that. How to stop her freaking out? Hmmm, tricky one... got it. He'd make it snow in her room, first- no one could be scared of snowflakes. Alright then, enough standing around- time to make her Christmas, merry.

He flew up to her bedroom window, it was obscured by curtains. This was going to be tricky, there wasn't a roof to stand on, so he'd have to hover. He began to put his plan into action.

He just about managed to split his mind in two- one half focussed on keeping himself up in the air, the other moved the staff to touch the window. He thought about snow.

A good minute, or so, passed before he removed the staff, and rapped it several times against the window pane. He faltered a little, that tiny action distracting him a little, but managed to stay airborne. Then, he waited.

Not long after he knocked, the curtains slid open, and he was met with a familiar face. Rapunzel- woah! Her sudden appearance jolted his concentration. He fell a short distance, but recovered himself before he reached the floor.

He drew level with the window, just in time to see it open.  
"Jack!" She called in astonishment. "How are doing that?!" She stared at him, eyes darted from his spread arms, to his hovering feet. He grinned.  
"Magic staff." He stated, holding it up for her to see she just looked at it, mouthing the word "magic". Just those two words made him wobble again, but he had two more for her.  
"Merry Christmas." He told her, she blinked like she'd forgotten, before smiling- seeing your best friend flying outside your window, tended to make you forget the little things like Christmas.  
"Merry Christmas." She replied. Jack was conscious that he was getting a little dangerously tired.

"Um, could I come in?" He requested. Rapunzel was a little surprised by the question, but nodded, quickly, backing away from the window.  
"Just try to be quiet, I think mother's still awake, downstairs." He nodded, it was a lot harder climbing in through a window, than out of one, especially silently.

When he got in, he let out a sigh of relief, as he finally let go of the wind.  
"You know, it's a lot harder than it looks, this flying business." Rapunzel looked at the staff, mesmerised, like she really wanted to get a closer look at it, but was afraid to approach it without permission. "You know, you can come closer- it doesn't bite, it's just bark." He smiled, she chuckled softly at the joke, and went up to him.

He held it up so she could get a better look. Entranced, she gazed at it, almost reverently, lifting a hand, and sliding her fingers across the top of it, she gasped.  
"It's cold." She noticed.  
"Is it?" Jack said, genuinely surprised. "Huh, probably because of the- oh, I haven't shown you that, yet." He realised, smiling.  
"What?" She asked, excitedly.  
"Come on." He said, taking her hand. There they were, those two magic words again, she waited eagerly to see what would happen next.

Jack pulled her gently to the wall,then lifted the hand he was holding, and carefully wrapped her fingers around the ancient staff. She looked shocked, as though surprised he trusted her with it. He lifted her other hand onto it, and they held it together.  
"Ready?" He asked, quietly. She nodded.

He moved the staff with her, and tapped it against the wall.

She gasped as frost appeared from the tip, and watched, spellbound, as it spread and curled across the wall. It was magical. It spread across the entire wall like it had a life of its own, and there was something beautiful about the way it moved.

Eventually, it slowed, and stopped as it reached ends of the wall, and the crackling went silent. Rapunzel just stared at it. The glittering wall of frost. It was so beautiful, and the way it shone in the moonlight... just breathtaking.

She noticed something else, aside from the regular pattern of frost. There were smooth dry lines that the frost hadn't covered. She recognised what it was in a heartbeat. A sun, overlapping a moon. The sun was on the right, as she was on the right hand side of the staff.

She knew she'd been blessed by the sun, it was the reason her mother kept her inside, safe from the world. So if she was the sun, did Jack had some sort of connection with the moon? Perhaps that's why his hair was white, like moonbeams.

She could have lost herself in that magical drawing. The simple, smooth design surrounded by the thousands of tiny ice crystals.

The sun and the moon. The two greatest lights of earth, in the the endless darkness of space. She looked at Jack, he was like the moon- he kept the darkness at bay, and whilst there might be other stars in the sky, he was by far the best. He turned, and met her eyes, smiling together. A sudden, horrible thought struck her.

"Oh no. Mother! When she sees that, she's gonna go berserk!" She panicked.  
"Woah, hey. Calm down. It'll be gone by morning." He told her, lighting her darkness once again.  
"Oh." She relaxed a little, but couldn't help but feel disappointed at the same time- she'd never see that beautiful moon and sun again. He noticed her expression, and smiled again.  
"Which brings us to your Christmas present." He announced, she looked round at him- what Christmas... oh.

She saw him bring out a curved slab of bark, on the inside of which, another frost design swirled. This one took the shape of a figure- just a head and upper torso. Long flowing hair, like a waterfall, cascading down it's back, it's warm friendly eyes seemed to be grinning all by themselves the frost making them sparkle, a broad cheerful smile lit up it's face. It was her.

She reached out and took it, with a grin as broad as the one on the frost girl. The dark brown bark really brought out the white, sparkling ice crystals.  
"And since you like the sun and moon so much..." He said, trailing off, as he wrapped her hand in his, and tapped the staff onto the other, rougher, outer side of the bark. The sun and moon engraved itself there, in shimmering frost. She looked back up at him, and threw her arms round him, holding him close.

After a few moments of shock, Jack returned it.  
"Thank you. It's the best present ever!" She told him, that made all the long, awful journey worth it, and, though she couldn't see it, he smiled, as he replied.  
"You're welcome."

They withdrew from each other.  
"Thanks for coming here, Jack." She smiled.  
"No problem, we couldn't have you spending Christmas alone, now, could we?" She giggled, softly.  
"No." A soft creaking of footsteps on stairs, made her glance at the door.

"You should go." She told him, worry and a little sadness in her eyes. He nodded.  
"Alright." He said, slipping out the window. "See you tomorrow." He whispered, as he departed.

Rapunzel grinned, as she watched him fly off, and raised a hand in farewell. She then shut the curtains, and slid into her bed, which, thankfully, didn't creak.

She lay still as the door swung open a little. She prayed the room was dark enough to hide the frost. It was. Her mother shut the door, and went to her own room.

Rapunzel breathed a sigh of relief, realising she was still holding the bark gift. She reached out, placed it on her bedside table, and smiled, as she settle down for sleep.

It had been a merry Christmas after all. 


	15. Chapter 15

Memory loss chapter 15- an unexpected call  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

Boxing Day, and Hiccup had woken to pleasant, everyday sound of Merida and Jack getting on each others nerves. This time in the form of a very loud, shrill whistle from Jack's room (which wasjust across the landing from his), and a loud, startled yell from its occupant.

Hiccup, drearily, lifted his head, and looked out the open door, to see Merida cackling and whooping triumphantly to herself. Same as usual. As she walked back to her room, though, something really bizarre happened.

A roundish, white, flying object flew across the air, and hit her, squarely, on the back of her head. Merida gasped at the impact, and tried to see what it was that hit her. But, whatever it was vanished as soon as she tried to get a look at it.

If Hiccup's impossible hunch was correct it, had probably melted. He called it impossible, because it had looked like a snowball. Indoors! There wasn't even any snow outside, so it just couldn't have been snow- but, yet, he that was exactly what it had looked like.

The look on Merida's face was quite comical, as, apparently, the cold and wetness of whatever it was, led her to a similar conclusion. No doubt she would have stormed in there, demanding an explanation. But, at that moment, a loud, angry shout, from across the landing, bounced across the house.  
"Merida! What do you think you're doing?! Waking us all up, at this ungodly hour. You get back into bed, right now, young lady!" Elinor yelled.

Hiccup glanced at his clock- twenty past two. No wonder he felt so groggy. Not wanting to brave her mother's wrath, she dashed back into her bedroom, and Hiccup was left pondering what he had saw.

At a decent, later, hour- he woke up properly, and he hadn't forgotten the events of that morning. How, on earth, had Jack got hold of a snowball, to throw it at Merida. He guess he'd have to wait for the right opportunity to ask, he couldn't say anything with Elinor and Fergus around- they'd think they were making things up, or mentally ill. He'd have to wait until they left for the forest, which reminded him- Rapunzel was coming over for the day.

When she got dropped off, they kept up with the normal talk, but Hiccup didn't miss the occasional looks Rapunzel and Jack shared- like they knew something they didn't. Merida seemed a little more eager to get to the forest, than usual- she was probably after answers, as well.

Surely enough, the moment they got there, she rounded on Jack.  
"Alright. Answers, Airhead. What was that all about this morning?" She asked, threateningly. For some reason, Jack seemed to think the nickname "Airhead" funny. She always called him that- it wasn't as if he'd never heard it before.  
"Well, you woke me up at two o clock in the morning. I thought it was fair enough I got a little payback." He answered, cleverly twisting the question to avoid the real one she was asking.  
"You know what I'm on about. Where did you get a snowball from?" She rephrased. Jack grinned, hefting his Christmas stick onto his shoulder, which- for no apparent reason- he'd brought with him.  
"Magic staff." He said, casually. Say what?! He was not expecting that. Whilst he battled himself about whether, or not, it was believable, Rapunzel broke in.  
"You can do snow, aswell?" She exclaimed, sounding excited.

Wait... either she was in on it too, or she somehow found out about it before now- both of which seemed pretty unlikely, as they hadnt seen each other since Christmas Eve.  
"Aswell?! Aswell as what?!" Merida yelled, looking every bit as confused as Hiccup felt.  
"The, erm, frost and flying." Rapunzel explained.

Flying. Hiccup turned to face Jack, who was leaning against the staff, as though he'd had it his whole life.  
"You should see your faces." He smirked.

"Right, that's it, Snow Man." Merida said, marching up to him. "Gimme that thing!" She demanded, yanking it out of his grasp.  
"Hey! Give it back!" He yelled, indignantly. Merida struck a pose, holding the staff to the sky, and shouted.  
"Fly!"

After a moment's awkward silence, it became apparent nothing was happening. Hiccup watched, as she lowered it, turning bright red. Jack burst out laughing, and Hiccup felt a little sorry for her. She growled, angrily.  
"Gimme a snowball!" she demanded, shaking it hard, as though, by doing so, she might shake one out. Jack laughed harder- Merida scowled, and swung it at him.  
"Owww." He moaned.  
"Well, at least it's not completely useless." She scoffed, as she turned and raged off. Hiccup thought about going after her, when- oh my! He just had time to think those two words, before a crisp, white ball hit Merida on the back of the head. She turned and gaped at Jack.  
"Yeah, not useless at all." He commented, covering the forest floor in a reasonably thick blanket of snow.

Merida appeared to be trying to imitate a goldfish, as she watched the snow spread.  
"Oh, that is it Snowface. You are going down." She said, having, eventually, come to the conclusion that, snow plus Jack equals revenge. She bent down to pick up some ammo. Jack let her have the chance to at least do that, before an all out snow war erupted.

Hiccup ran to avoid the main rush of fire, and found himself next to Rapunzel. She was bouncing up and down on the crunching white.  
"Snow! "It's beautiful! Oh, listen to it, just, crunching." She exclaimed, stomping into it again.  
"Haven't you ever seen snow before?" Hiccup asked.  
"I've seen it... I've just never, actually, played in it." She explained.  
"Huh- woah!" Hiccup shouted, narrowly dodging a wild, flying ball of white.

He bent down, scooping and packing the snow in front of him.  
"Right, we need some kind of cover. Do you think you could help me with this-(thump)" He hasn't noticed Jack making motions behind his back, and Rapunzel giggled with delight, as he fell, face first, into the snow.  
"Nice, face plant!" Jack laughed. "Come on, help me get Scotland, over here." Rapunzel grinned, and went to join the dark side. Merida shouted.  
"So you wanna play it like tha', huh?" She challenged. "Hiccup, you're on my team." She announced.  
"Ah, no, I, really, don't wanna get involved with this." He told her.  
"In which case you're against me." She said, raising a recently gathered snowball. Oh gods, Hiccup thought, he really didn't want to be against her  
. "Team Merida it is, then." He decided, conveniently. Merida lowered the snowball, just as another one smacked him on the back.  
"Aaaah!" Hiccup yelled.  
"Thanks for the tip off!" Jack smirked, Hiccup groaned.  
"Weren't you supposed to warn me about that?" He complained to the redhead, she shrugged.  
"Maybe- wah!" Another one from Jack made her stumble.  
"You saw that coming!" She accused, Hiccup shrugged.  
"Maybe." Merida's eyes narrowed as her scowl turned into an evil smile.  
"That's it, now you're in trouble, dragon boy." She warned. Oh no, Hiccup thought, and dodged, as one flew by where his face was supposed to be.

Eventually, Rapunzel couldn't resist a throw at her partner, when his back was turned, and, pretty soon, the game turned into every man- and woman- for themselves.

The main competition was between Merida and Jack, but Hiccup and Rapunzel made things awkward for them, using sneak attacks to strike them, unexpectedly.

To Jack, this was just another game of dodgeball. You grab a ball, you throw the ball, you dodge, and then get a new ball. Merida was just fiercely competitive, full stop. She didn't have quite the same skill as Jack, but her determination to whup his butt made up for it. Hiccup was really glad they too busy being rivals to form an alliance. With those two together, they would be unstoppable- he and Rapunzel wouldn't stand a chance.

Eventually, the battle came to an end, when there was no longer any snow left, to form a decent snowball out of. They were all panting, and laughing.  
"Well, Snowy?" Merida said, expectantly. "Give us some more snow." Jack shook his head.  
"It really takes it out of me- couldn't make any more if I tried." He did look exhausted- slumped against a nearby tree, breathing heavily.  
"Wait a minute, are you tellin' me, Jack the endless-energy wonder- is tired?!" She asked, incredulously. A snowball hit her arm.  
"Hm, guess I was wrong. I could've managed another, if I'd tried." He noted. The other three sat down with him, secretly glad of the opportunity to catch their breathes.

"So, I take it that's a no, to flying, then?" Merida said. Flying. Hiccup had forgotten about that- what with all the snow and everything- and now she'd brought it up, he found he really wanted to see it.  
"Definite no." Jack confirmed. They were all disappointed with that, but Merida wasn't the sort to be put off easily.  
"Tomorrow, then. You and me are going flying." She told him. Jack looked at her in shock.  
"I'm not sure we'll actually be able to do that- I can barely keep myself up, and it takes a lot of energy, and it's really hard to balance." He explained, Merida just looked at him.  
"There's no way I can change your mind on this, is there?" He noticed.  
"Nope." She confirmed.  
"Alright, we'll try it tommorow- but it's a bad idea." This coming from Jack would have been enough to put most people off- but Merida wasn't most people.

Pfft, bad idea, she thought to herself, this is a brilliant idea- she was going to fly! Jack stood nearby ready to lift them up, Rapunzel and Hiccup watched to one side.

She noticed Hiccup looking at her, somewhat enviously, and almost felt a little guilty. He'd been dreaming about flying, as long as he had, his dragons, and yet, he hadn't even requested a go. It was quite sweet, the way he was letting her go before him.

"Alright, Airhead." She said, smirking at the irony of the nickname. "Take me flying." She said, grinning. Hiccup and Rapunzel sat up with renewed anticipation.  
"Okay, like I said, I really don't know if it will work, but- here goes nothing." He took a deep breathe.. held up his staff, and...  
"Jack!" ...got distracted by a little, brown haired boy.

She sighed, annoyed- wait, who was this kid? She'd never seen him before- and how did he know Jack? She could see the others having similar thoughts.  
"Jamie?" Jack said, almost asking if he was right. The boy, slowing his run, nodded.  
"Jack, the other Guardians need your help. It's Pitch! He's using the winter solstice to make himself stronger- they're in trouble!"

The winter solstice- the darkest night of the year. She thought she heard something on the news about the winter solstice being unusually late this year, but she hadn't bothered to pay any attention to it. The rest of what he said was mostly babble, but she got one thing clear- some people were in trouble, and they wanted Jack to help.

She looked at him, to see what he made of this. Obviously, he understood a lot more than she did, and was in the midst of a whole lot of where, what, when and hows. But then, suddenly- something seemed to dawn on him.

Merida didn't know it, but with Jamie's appearance he'd finally made the connection between the name, and himself. His eyes widened.  
"That's who I am... Jack Frost!" He realised.

As in the mythical ice dude? Merida wasn't sure quite what to make of that, but things were clearly urgent, because he looked seriously at Jamie.  
"I'll help." He decided. This Pitch thing was obviously a big deal. She squabbled a lot with her white haired brother, but she wasn't about to let him face something like that alone.  
"Alright, when do we leave." She asked, striding to pick up her bow and quiver.  
"What? Merida, you're not coming." He said, firmly." As if he could tell her what to do. "Well that's just tough, because you can't stop me." She said, haughtily, testing the point of an arrow on her finger.  
"I'm coming too." A voice announced. She turned, raising an eyebrow at Hiccup. Her going was one thing, she had her bows and arrows- Hiccup would just get himself killed.

But, then she saw the determined look on his face- she wouldn't be able to change his mind, any more than Jack would hers.  
"I'm not letting you guys go without me. I can fight, so I will." He said, with such conviction Merida couldn't help but be impressed. Little did she know, that he was being fuelled by that same fiery impulse as on Halloween- he had to keep her safe, and he would protect her, no matter what.

Merida sighed, and unsheathed a sword from her waist- she'd brought two along in case any of them fancied a duel, afterwards.  
"There, now you won't be completely useless." She commented.  
"What about me?"

Everyone turned to the blond haired lass, who'd been left out of the conversation.  
"It's gonnae be dangerous. You need to stay, where yer safe." Merida told her.  
"No. I'm not staying behind, while you all go off to fight. I need to know you're okay." She crossed her arms, stubbornly. "And I'm not a coward." She announced. "I'm coming with you." Merida saw it would be pointless to argue- besides, they were wasting time.  
"If you're coming, ya need ta stay where we can keep an eye on ya. Take this, but don' go lookin' for trouble, use it only in emergencies." Merida said, handing her the second sword. Rapunzel looked relieved they were letting her come. "But I may need it back when I run out o' arrows." She warned, Rapunzel nodded, seriously, to show she understood.

Merida noticed Jack had been awful silent, as though coming to terms with some great revelation- then again, if he was some famous ice dude, it was no wonder.  
"Are you sure you want to come?" Jack asked the blond girl, she nodded.  
"I'm not staying behind, twiddling my thumbs, waiting to see if you're ok. At least if I'm there, I can see that you're alright." She explained, Jack nodded, and turned to Jamie, who'd been watching the exchange with growing impatience.  
"So what, now?" He asked him.

Jamie pulled a large orb thing out of his pocket.  
"Take us to the Guardians." He said to it, and threw it on the floor. It bounced once, then vanished, leaving a swirling vortex of colour in its place. "We need to go all at once, it normally shuts soon after the first person." Jamie informed them.

"Alright, so, magic staffs, magic portals- is there anything else we need ta know?" Merida asked.  
"Oh yeah, we're currently going to help Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and Sandman." He told them, nonchalant. "-and we're fighting the Boogeyman." He added, as an afterthought. Right, ok, seemed about as mad as everything else that had happened so far, she thought.  
"Well, then, let's go teach Mr Boogey-face a lesson." She said, with typical Scottish bravado. Jack grinned.  
"Alright, ready? One, two, three!" He counted down, on "three" they all threw themselves at the portal.

The world spun, in a dizzying swirl of light and colour, and then, quite suddenly, she was somewhere new.

It was nighttime, and completely dark. Somewhere, she heard people yelling, as though fighting, spooky, black blurs zipped by, now and then.

But she didn't really have time to take that in- because first thing on her list of priorities, was that she was high up in the clouds, and falling. 


	16. Chapter 16

Memory loss chapter 16- the battle begins  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

They were falling. The world was just a black blur, with snatches of his friends passing in and out of his vision. Jack held onto his staff, but he didn't stop. Not yet. If he did that he might not catch up with the others in time. He heard someone screaming, numerous people, actually. It seemed everybody's voice, but his, had mashed together in a terrified cry.

He reached out, blindly, and managed to grab hold of somebody. Hiccup!  
"Grab onto the others!" He yelled, it must have been hard to hear him over the roaring wind, but Hiccup did as he was told, his eyes wide in fear. Jack continued reaching out for someone else, until he got a handful of clothing- he was pretty sure it was Jamie.

The moment Jack got hold of him, the boy was visibly more relieved, and relaxed. He must really trust him, Jack thought, he wished he knew more about how he knew him- well, more of everything, really, but he couldn't think about that right now.  
"Jack! I've got Merida!" He just about heard Hiccup over the wind.  
"What about Rapunzel." He muttered. "Has anyone got Rapunzel?!" He yelled at the top of the lungs.  
A heart stopping silence, before.  
"I've got her!" It was Jamie, he'd caught her.

"Get close to me!" He yelled, pulling them all close towards his body, until they were all packed together. "Jamie, help me with the staff. The boy's brown eyes widened.  
"But I can't-" He began.  
"Yes you can, if I'm doing it with you. I'm not strong enough to hold us all up." He shouted. He caught a glimpse of the world below him, the ground was scarily close.  
"Jamie!" He yelled. He felt an boost of energy surge through the staff.  
"Got it!" He heard in return.

Without wasting another second, he put all his effort into a updraft of wind, to keep them from falling. It felt like he was trying lift them, himself- taking as much a physical effort, as a mental effort. He strained harder than he ever had before, and felt them slowing, until they had almost stopped. Now they just had to gently drift towards the-

As though a light had been flicked off, his strength suddenly halved. He couldn't hold the wind, and they dropped.

Luckily, the ground wasn't far below them- it hurt, but there wasn't any major injuries, on him, at least, what about the others?  
"Is everyone alright?" He called.  
"Yeah."  
"I'm fine."  
"Been better." So that was Hiccup, Rapunzel and Merida, all okay, but what about...  
"Jamie?" He queried. Nothing. "Jamie?" He repeated, this time, more worried. He looked round, to find him- the others were sitting up, looking a little shell shocked, Jamie was right next to him, laying still.

"Jamie!" He exclaimed, putting an ear to his mouth.  
"Oh gods, is he alright!" Merida asked, concerned about him, even though they'd only met, literally, two minutes ago. A gentle breath of air tickled Jack's ear.  
"Still breathing." He told them, relieved. "Just unconscious." He noticed Jamie was still holding the staff, and realised what must have happened.

Jamie had put so much energy, and effort, into maintaining the wind to protect them, he'd used up all his strength, and fallen unconscious. That was the light bulb going out feeling- he'd passed out. But why? Why would he do that, for him? If Jamie had given up all his energy to lower the burden on Jack, then he must truly believe he could make a difference to this- A nightmarish scream, overhead. Jack flinched, instinctively throwing up a protective arm, as a dark shape sped towards them.

A rush of air, and the horse dispelled as a blade carved through it.

Hiccup stood, sword raised, from where he'd just defeated the creature. Merida looked like she was trying to decide what to be more shocked about- the unexpected near death experience, or the fact that Hiccup had just saved their lives.

Funny, but they'd almost forgotten there was a fight going on, with the whole almost falling to their deaths thing. They all gaped at the surreal scene above them. Everything seemed to be shrouded in darkness. Evil, dark sand horses filled the air, but in the midst of them- all scattered haphazardly across the sky, were four figures, fighting. The Guardians.

Well, the portal had took them to the right place. It was just inconvenient that, at that point they'd asked to be taken to them, all the Guardians had been airborne.

Jack suddenly felt small next to the masses of dark shapes that flooded the sky, but Jamie had believed in him, he couldn't let him down. The Guardians needed him up there. He turned to the others.  
"Stay here, and protect each other. Try to take out as many of these things as you can- and be careful." He told them, as he lifted off. He heard Merida yelling something that was lost in the wind. Probably: "Us be careful?! You're about to go flying right into the middle of those things!" Mad? Probably, but he had to do something.

He tried to think back to everything Jamie had ever told him about Jack Frost... about himself. He could fly (yup, already doing that one). What else could he do? He could make it snow (great, that was really going to be useful against a load of big, black monsters). He could shoot ice! (That's a relief, because he had a feeling shooting a snowflake at them wouldn't be nearly as effective). He dived towards a nearby cluster of the creatures, time to test this thing out.

Hiccup swung his sword at any creature daring to get within its reach. Between him and Merida, they managed to keep the things at bay- away from Rapunzel and Jamie. As he fought, he couldn't help but notice how awesome Merida was, fighting. The intense look in her eye, as she lined up another target- it was almost predatorial, the look of a huntress.

In fact, with Merida on long range attacking, Hiccup rarely had to lift the sword at all, even managing to keep up a conversation with Rapunzel.  
"Which one do think is Santa Claus?" She wondered, Hiccup risked a glimpse at the sky.  
"Probably, the one in the reindeer pulled (slash) sleigh." He pointed out.  
"Oh yeah, and the rabbit behind him- that must be the Easter Bunny! He looks a lot bigger than I expected, and I think he's using boomerangs to fight." She informed.  
"What (swoosh) do you have, like, eagle eyes or (poof) something." He asked.  
"Not really, they're just getting really, quite- close!" She yelled in alarm.

Hiccup looked up to see several rows of sharp hooves, pounding the air above his head, and let out an unflattering yell.  
"I think the flying woman is the Tooth Fairy- because that man made from sand, must be the Sandman..." Rapunzel continued. Hiccup lost track of the conversation after that, as the nightmarish creatures demanded more of his attention- hold on, was that what they were supposed to be? Nightmares- like mare, as in horse? Okay, that wasn't even clever, but as he fought, he noticed many of them seemed to deviate from the original horse form- instead taking the appearance of spiders, snakes, lions, and other terrifying creatures.

"Wait, where's jack?" Rapunzel's voice broke into his thoughts, she suddenly sounded alarmed.  
"What? I thought you were (swish) keeping an eye on him?" He shouted- in the midst of so much fighting, and in intense situations, you find yourself yelling, a lot.  
"I was, but he's just vanished!" She replied, beginning to panic.

Hiccup smashed through another creature, and scanned the sky. Sure enough, the flashes of bright, blue lights that allowed them to pinpoint their friend had vanished.

But more than that, clouds of thick, black darkness seemed to be gathering around a certain point in the air- something was going on up there, he knew it.

He cut down a bat nightmare, as he heard Rapunzel saying.  
"I hope he's alright." 


	17. Chapter 17

Memory loss chapter 17- to be a boy or a guardian  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: I'm back! It was so strange not being able to say anything or teply to you all many apologies or that but I really hope you've been enjoying the story ^^ things are really heating up now huh the final battle! Dun dun dun! I really hope you enjoy this update please review (I haven't said the in a whole but I hope you know how much every single one means to me^^) and as always I will see you tommorow with the next chapter! **

As it turns out, sticks were useful against the creatures, he hadn't been mad for thinking that- well, not completely. The blasts of ice cut through several beasts in one go. But, they took more energy than he would have liked, that and the fact he was flying, which constantly sapped at his strength, made his energy drop at an alarming rate.

He took to hitting them with his staff- reserving the jets of ice for emergencies- it wasn't quite as effective, but didn't tire him the same.

His presense didn't stay unnoticed for long, a reindeer pulled sleigh flew past at one point, with its over enthusiastic pilot yelling at the top of his lungs.  
"Yeeeehaaaw! De Guardian returns!" Was he talking about him? Yes, he was- he was a guardian. He remembered Jamie telling him- Jack Frost was a guardian. So these must be his friends. The rabbit riding behind him called out.  
"Good to see ya, Frostbite!" So that was where Merida got that little tip off from- okay, so she wasnt completely berserk, or, at least, no more than him. A green, feathered, Tooth Fairy blur shot past, at one point, whooping wih delight- and the golden Sandman waved, jovially, at him from his sand cloud.

He knew all these people were supposed to be his friends- so why, with all these, supposed, familiar faces around him, did he still not remember anything? All he knew about them, was whatever Jamie had told him on their web chats, and what he saw for himself, right now.

He was getting really quite exhausted, by now. Everything was taking far more effort than it had originally, as tiredness started to weigh down on him. He'd need to stop for a break soon, or else he'd just topple out of the sky. He searched for a safe place to rest.

They were in some kind of mountain range- perhaps, the Himalayas. So, he scanned the peaks for a place to rest- he could hold out a bit longer, but he needed to find a place, for when he did get too tired.

There! He spotted something. A hole carved in the mountainside, partially covered by an outcropping of rock. It looked big enough to hide one skinny kid, but, hopefully, not big enough for the creatures.

He made a mental note of where it was, and returned his attention to the fight. It was then, he noticed a tall, black man, stood on a cloud of darkness, high above all of the Guardians. Even at this distance, Jack found he recognised him. Pitch Black, the nightmare king, he realised. Wait, how did he know that? Jamie hadn't told him he was the nightmare king. How did suddenly know more about that him, in a few seconds, than he had about himself, after months of trying? He knew that man's full name, and who he was. But how did he know? A sudden realisation hit him and the world seemed to slow.

He was the same man from his nightmares, he'd almost forgotten about, from oh so long ago. He remembered that sketch of him, coming out of the shadows, and Rapunzel's voice came back to him.  
"He's the key to your getting your memory back."

A new kind of energy rushed through him- he might finally get back his memories! Not only that, if Pitch was the nightmare king, then by taking him down, he might end this battle.

The fact that none of the Guardians- much stronger and wiser than him- had rose to challenge Pitch didn't occur to him, just like it didn't occur to him that they hadn't done this, because they didn't think they were strong enough. Had he known this useful piece of information, he might have thought twice before flying in to attack Pitch. But, he didn't, so he flew, recklessly, into the heart of the storm.

He tried to sneak up on him, but it was like he sensed his presence. Pitch turned to meet him.  
"Ah, little Jack Frostie." He said, with a dark smile. Jack shot a bolt of ice at him, but Pitch raised an arm, and a wall of shadow appeared, easily blocked it, and dissolved again. Jack's eyes widened. Okay, so it wasn't going to be so easy, he could still do this.  
"Now, now. Is that any way to treat an old friend?" Pitch scolded.  
"You're not my friend!" Jack yelled, and lunged, the shot of ice was blocked, yet again.  
"Temper, temper." He tutted. "But, have it your way... Are you willing to fight for your memories, Jack?" He taunted, before shooting a blast of darkness at him. Woah! He just dodged it, feeling it whip past his ear, the one that followed it came even closer.

This was a bad idea. He shouldn't have even thought about challenging Pitch in the state he was in. Dodging the darkness seemed to be taking all his energy, he couldn't keep this up much longer. He moved in close, swooping into a cloud for cover- perhaps, his ice didn't have any effect, but he could still give him a good whack on the head. He dived down, straight on top of him, and swung his staff at his head with all his might.

An explosion of light, inside his mind, made him reel back. What was-? Suddenly, some gaps in his mind were filled, scenes danced before his eyes: chasing a nightmare through a city with Sandy, a massive workshop, filled with all the toys you could imagine, a deep, ice cold pit, in which, he lay still. His memories. His memories were returning! He remembered North. He remembered being alone. He remember a ruined Easter. But they were only glimpses, scattered glances into his past. It wasn't anywhere near the full thing.

The images filled his vision and mind. He didn't see the next attack coming.

"Ahhh!" It hit him in the side of the chest. The pain, the pain was awful. Suddenly, he was back, from the world of the past. In midair, Pitch standing not that far away from him. He looked a little annoyed, but he glowered, victoriously, down at him.  
"So, you finally figured out some of your precious memories. But, I'm warning you, Frost. If you continue to fight, you will continue to get your memories back, but at a price. All your memories come back, you go back to how you were- invisible, forever wandering, the forgotten boy. You'd be stronger, I won't lie, but would you really be willing to do it- give up your mortality, to gain your memories. What would you choose, Jack- to be a boy, or a Guardian?"

Jack couldn't stay there any longer, and Pitch had had enough talking.  
"Get him." He muttered. Jack doubted he could've kept up the wind any longer, and with the large wound in his chest- he fell. The nightmares followed.

He thought, desperately, of that alcove in the mountain, and angled himself towards it. With his little remaining strength, creating a little wind to push him towards it. He didn't want to look behind, because he knew what he'd see- thousands of the dark creatures, snapping at his heels. The pain from his side was overwhelming, dotting his vision with red and blurring everything.

He saw the entrance approaching, but didn't dare slow down. He shot through the gap between the mountain and the outcrop, scraping his arms against the sides as he did so. A last second cushion of air hit him, moments before the impact. He hit the ground, hard.

The gust of air only just stopped him breaking all the bones in his body.

He lay there, dazed with pain. At first, all he could think of was pain, as endless waves of it swept through his body.

Eventually, the words of Pitch came back to him, and he began to ponder his impossible choice, alone, in pain, and in the dark.

He had some of his memories back now- he could remember the dreadful, soul numbing feeling of getting walked through, the painless agony of spending every waking hour alone, and invisible. He might be a Guardian now, but he would still be invisible to non believers- and that was still the vast majority of kids, everywhere. But, more than that, if he chose to become Jack Frost, the Guardian, that would mean leaving behind the life he had been living, before all this.

A regular, normal life. He wouldn't be able to spend all his time with his friends, he'd have to leave them completely during the summer months. He'd have to wander again- he wouldn't have a house, or a bed, or a place to call his own. Or a mother- he wouldn't have an everyday life, with a loving mother, father and siblings, he'd just be alone again.

Everything he had missed out in life, because he had died- for he remembered now, that he had died, and been brought back as the half living Jack Frost- he might get it all back. If he continued, living a normal life, he might finish school, get a job, even find love- he might get married, and have a family, and live, and die, at a ripe old age. Live the life he would have lived, if not for that fateful day on the pond.

All those experiences that had been denied him. In three hundred years, he hadn't ever had a family Christmas, home cooked meals, or even a place to shelter. But, he'd had all that, the past few months. How could he let go of all that? He'd been given a taste of everything he'd always wanted, how could leave it behind...

And what if he did go back, what then? The fact is that immortal, means immortal- never dying. He'd have to watch his friends: Jamie, and Rapunzel, and Hiccup, and Merida- all of them growing old, and withering, and dying, while he stayed young forever. How would he be able to stand, and look at their graves, knowing he could have spent his life growing, and living, and ageing with them. They would have grown old together, and they would have died together. But, not if he changed back. If he changed back, he'd come back, one winter, to see the name "Merida Dunbroch" carved onto a weathered, grey stone, protruding from the ground... And Hiccup's and Rapunzel's beside it.

How could he go through all that? How could he live that forever lonely life again, now he knew what he was missing.

He might have complained about how awful school was, but the truth was, he didn't want to leave it behind.

It sounded like a pretty good deal, his life- flying around, delivering snow, staying young and free for all time... but, the truth was... it was a lonely, old life. He knew that now, thanks to his memories. So why should he go back? Why should he choose, to be Jack Frost again?...

... Because the others needed him. They weren't strong enough to fight Pitch and his armies without him. The Guardians needed him- and Hiccup and the others needed him, because, if he didn't fight, then what would be left? A dark, fear filled world, with sadness, and depression, at every turn. He couldn't let that happen.

He thought of Jamie, lying unconscious in the middle of a battlefield, because he believed in him. If, by becoming Jack Frost, he could swing the balance, and save them all from the second dark ages... then that was what he'd do. He would give up that ordinary life, with parents, and a house and growing up, and he would do it all to keep them safe.

Already with the flurry of memories swirling round in his head, he had felt himself change a little- he felt lighter, less grounded, less solid, less... living, he realised.

Wielding the staff had become easier, too. If it hadn't been for those memories, and the subtle change thy accompanied them, he never would have kept up the breeze that blew him here- and even with that cushion of air, he got the feeling he should have been beaten up far worse than he had been. That impact should have killed him, but it didn't. Like a little piece of the immortality had woken up in him, with the memories.

He had no doubt that getting his full memories back would make him stronger- perhaps even strong enough to stand up to Pitch. If there was a chance that was possible- he'd take it. After all, he was a Guardian- it was his duty to protect the children.

He stood, slowly, agonisingly, for the impact had still hurt, and he wasn't immortal yet. Besides, he had the feeling even immortality had its limits.

His side throbbed incessantly, and every part of his body ached, his arms were scraped and his head was pounding- but he stubbornly ignored the pain.

He knew the nightmares would be waiting outside, but he'd had his break. The time for waiting was over. Now was the time to fight.

He'd made his choice, and he chose to be, Jack Frost.


	18. Chapter 18

Memory loss chapter 18- Gift from an Ancestor  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: almost at the end now ooh so tense! I'm so glad you guys are enjoying it ^^ please keep reviewing it does mean the world to me :-D apart from that please enjoy and I will see you all tommorow with the next one**

Rapunzel, being terrible with a sword, had to sit beside the, still unconscious, Jamie, whist Hiccup and Merida protecting them. She kept the spare sword in hand, in case an emergency arose, though she was yet to use it. She hated being so useless, but at least it left her free to see what was going on.

There was a worrying gathering of dark clouds high up in the air, just after Jack vanished. She'd told Hiccup, but things with the nightmares were getting crazy. More and more of them were taking notice of, and charging, their little group- and Merida didn't have many arrows left, pretty soon she'd have to hand over the sword, and then she'd be defenceless.

She carried on watching the skies, and, after a while, the gathered dark clouds lunged out, downwards, transforming into a thousand nightmares as it did. It was as though it was in persuit of some, unfortunate, person, and she had a horrible suspicion she knew who it was. Her eyes widened in horror.

"Hiccup!" She yelled, he turned quickly, hearing the urgency in her tone. She pointed at the thick, descending cloud of nightmares. At first, he looked confused, but then he came to the same conclusion she did.  
"Jack." He said, worried. Rapunzel gasped, as she saw a nightmare panther using his distraction to ambush him. She swung the sword, desperately, somehow managing to hit the nightmare, without knocking Hiccup's head off.

That snapped him back to attention, but she could hear him muttering to himself.  
"Need to help him. I need to get up there. He needs help. He's in trouble, I just know it. But, I don't have a way to get up there." He roared, in frustration, though it might have been in effort, as the eleventh nightmare since he'd started muttering, charged him. "I need a way to get up there. I need a way to fly- if only I had_." He continued, Rapunzel didn't catch the last word, because he'd said it quietly, and was facing away from her, but, then, she saw a big, black shape land on the ground, by them.

It was far bigger than any of the nightmares she'd seen so far. A big, black sand dragon.

"Hiccup!" She shouted, tugging his sleeve to grab his attention. He turned, and saw it. The dragon bared its teeth, and snarled, angrily, at him.  
"It's you..." Hiccup muttered, lowering his sword, in shock. What was he babbling on about, she wondered, and then she realised. This was the same dragon he'd been drawing in his book for, at least, three years, and he thought it was here to help. But, looking at its viscious claws, and teeth, and the furious look in its eye, and she knew it was just another dark creature, sent to kill them.

She looked at Hiccup, about to tell him to snap out of it, when she noticed another, smaller, nightmare, flying at them from behind- it must have slipped through Merida's guard.  
"Look out!" She yelled, pulling Hiccup down. The beast in front of them saw it too- its eyes narrowed, and it roared, dominantly, at it. The creature, a nightmarish ogre like man beast, turned and lumbered away. But, Rapunzel knew that it hadn't done that to save them- she knew what that roar meant: my kill.

The nightmare dragon turned its attention back to them, baring its teeth, in a terrifying growl. Rapunzel backed away, but Hiccup held his ground.  
"No, no, it's alright. It's okay, look." He bent down, slowly, dropped his sword, and kicked it away. The dragon looked just as surprised as she was.

"Guys, what's going on over there?" She heard Merida's voice from where she'd taken stance behind them, to watch their backs, but her attention stayed on Hiccup.  
"Hiccup! Are you mad?!" She shouted.  
"Just trust me." He told her- she looked worriedly between the creature, and him. It had stopped snarling, and was studying him with new interest, eyes narrowed in shrewd suspicion.

It rumbled, deep in its throat, as Hiccup began to approach it. It wasn't expecting him to be moving towards it so fearlessly, and looked at a loss at what to do. Hiccup reached out a hand towards it, and its lip raised a little.  
"It's okay, bud. I know you're not going to hurt me." He murmured, gently. Rapunzel watched, torn between admiration and worry. Was he trying to get himself killed?! On the other hand, he'd made it this far, without losing his arm...

The dragon growled still, as his hand drew closer. It looked on the verge of retreating, or snapping at his hand.  
"It's okay, Toothless." Hiccup said. He turned his head away. "I trust you." Was he mad?! He was completely at the thing's mercy! This wasn't some dragon he'd been dreaming of, ever since he were a kid, this was some nightmare monster! But, surprisingly, the creature didn't tear his arm off. It stared at his outstretched fingers, astonished, and didn't do anything, as ,slowly, Hiccup's hand met its snout.

Then, suddenly, it changed.

The sand under Hiccup's hand hardened, and became warm, and smooth. The change continued, spreading out from under his hand, across the entire creature. It's eyes turned from nightmare burning gold, into a cat like emerald green, and within a few seconds, there, in front of Hiccup, stood a real life dragon.

He turned his head back to look at it, and it gave him a gummy grin.  
"Hiya, bud." He smiled. It butted him, playfully, with his head, a soft warbling coming from his throat. Rapunzel was astonished- how had he done that? He'd just turned that bunch of nightmare sand, into an, actual, dragon- complete with saddle, and everything.

It's ears pricked, and it roared a warning, before blasting an incoming nightmare with a shot of fire- that seemed to remind Hiccup where he was.

He ran to the dragon's back, and swung up into the saddle, like he'd been doing it his whole life. One of his feet hit a metal attatchment on one of the stirrups. He kicked it off, and shoved his boot inside. He waggled his foot, and opened up a fabric tail piece connected to a bunch of leather strips and wires- it looked complicated. Rapunzel eyed it, sceptically.  
"Are you sure you know how to work that thing?" She asked Hiccup, he grinned back down at her.  
"Course I do, I designed it." He grinned. "Or, at least, I dreamed I did." He amended. A sudden burst of blue light in the sky made him look up.  
"Jack!" He exclaimed. "Come on, Toothless, let's go help our friend!" He yelled, Toothless roared in agreement, and leapt ino the air.

Rapunzel watched them fly off, luring the nightmares away from them.  
"What the!" Merida yelled. "What is he doing?" Rapunzel smiled at her.  
"He got a dragon." She said, expecting some kind of humorous, or sarcastic, comment from her friend, but none came, she only lined up another arrow, grimly. That told her just how serious things had become.

"Well, he better make good use o' it. I think there's even more nightmares than when we started off." She pointed out, Rapunzel looked, and realised she was right. As the darkest night progressed, more and more nightmares were coming out.

"Sword." Merida demanded, Rapunzel handed it over, this was really not good. This whole thing needed to end- and soon. She looked up at the place she'd last seen Hiccup- heading towards the blue lights.

She hoped they'd be okay. Both of them. It was down to them now.


	19. Chapter 19

Memory loss chapter 19- Arrows  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: a lot of drama in this one! Hope you enjoy oh and sorry in advance for the ending- hope you enjoy it though^^ please review I love love love reading them ! And I will post the next one tommorow! :-D**

Jack had launched himself straight into Pitch, ignoring any nightmares in his path. The impact had sparked the appearance of many memories, and he knew it was working, he could feel himself getting stronger. But, for the first moments when he first got the memories back- he was vulnerable.

They filled his mind, and flashed across his sight, making it hard to see incoming attacks, or even think straight. What's worse, after the first attack, Pitch realised that he'd made his choice, and was making it ever more harder for him to get close. Moving away, and sending barricades of nightmares to block him.

The nightmares were the trickiest part, having to fight, or avoid, them was, not only time consuming, but dangerous. He'd had quite a few close calls with them, almost dropping his staff, or getting injured from them- if only there was a way to get rid of them, then the way to Pitch would be clear.

In time, he found a way back in, and, this time, when they'd collided, he'd stayed put. Hundreds of memories flashed through his mind, as they grappled with each other. Jack was almost lost amongst them, he fought to stay put, but with his mind half in the past, it was almost impossible.

When Pitch finally shook him off, he was dazed from the memories swirling round in his head- he could barely keep himself in the air. Pitch saw his opportunity- Jack wasn't entirely immortal yet, he needed to take him down before he got stronger.

Somewhere, Jack thought he saw a blast of darkness being formed, but three hundred years gave him a long past, and even though that wasn't anywhere near the full amount of his memories, he still struggled to see past them. They whipped through his mind, splitting him between the past and the present- he could hardly determine one from the other anymore. He dully thought that he should move, but, too late- the dark dart was released.

A rush of heat flew past him- intercepting the darkness, with an explosion that released a shock wave of blue light.  
"What in the world?" Jack came back to reality enough to spot a black (but not nightmare) dragon, fly by overhead, and, unless he was very much mistaken, there, on its back, was Hiccup. Since when had he got a dragon? He thought, before he realised something- the dragon was a spirit.

Like him, like the Guardians- it took one to know one, but he was certain of it. The dragon (Toothless, he thought it was called) wasn't entirely alive. But, if he was the same dragon from Hiccup's stories- the one that belonged to his ancestor, Hiccup Stupid Surname the Third, then its spirit had obviously come back, to protect the his best friend's descendant. He didn't know how it had happened- perhaps it was the man in the moon, perhaps it was some kind of dragony magic it had, he didn't know, but he was glad of the air support.

Hiccup took on the nightmares, giving Jack some breathing space to gather his thoughts. He managed to push back the memories, until they weren't completely taking over his mind, so he could think.

He had to get back to Pitch- if Hiccup could continue holding back the nightmares, it might give him a chance to get the rest of his memories back. But where was Pitch?  
"Boo." The voice was behind him.

He turned and a sickly grey hand grasped him round the neck. The torrent of memories rushing through him was overwhelming- distant memories of snowballs, and loneliness, and staring up at a silent moon. But some were more recent- memories of capture, and escape, and torture, and darkness. He could hear a voice shouting his name- but he'd heard his name being called so many times, who was it? Was it Bunny? Or was it North, or Hiccup? So many voices, so many names- was it a voice from the past, or the present? He lost track of what was the present- he didn't know what was happening anymore.

With great effort, he decided that the voice was Hiccup, and he made a vague connection. Hiccup on a dragon, that was recent wasn't it, or was it happening now? He sounded worried, but what about? Why was he wor-. Suddenly, he found he couldn't breathe.

He strained his lungs, but gained nothing. He needed air, why wasn't he getting it? A grey arm around his neck- that was now, wasn't it. Pitch was choking him! Even the memories in his head blurred as they flowed through his mind. He. Needed. Air. He tried striking out. He tried attempting to prise the fingers from their death grip around his neck. Nothing was working!

His memories might be making him Jack Frost again, but he wasn't feeling all too immortal right now. He guessed he was right- even immortality had its limits.

Memories of drowning came back to him, he couldn't breathe then either, and he'd died. It was happening again. He was going to die here. It was terrifying, he felt the parallels between the drowning, and him right now- they were horrifyingly similar.

The tightness in his chest, the feeling like his head was going to explode, the numbness in his limbs and the spots that filled his vision. He'd never felt so scared, it was all he could feel, pure, mindless, fear.

He saw a glimpse of Hiccup- he was on his dragon, and was watching, helpless and terrified, as his friend died in front of his eyes. He knew couldn't risk anything without- what, making things worse?! It would be the same story with the other Guardians, even if they arrived in time. He was going to die. No-one could save him. But, worse than the feeling of dying, was the knowledge that his death was going to mean nothing.

He hadn't stopped Pitch, or defeated the nightmares, he'd just died. Pitch would continue to spread his darkness, and if the Guardians couldn't stop him, the second dark age would begin- and he wouldn't be able to stop it.

Black spots appeared before his eyes, as the memories finally seemed to slow, receding from his mind, he saw Pitch Black, glaring straight at him.  
"We could have been partners, Jack. I gave you a chance. I could have killed you a long time ago. But you've made your choice." He told him, he almost looked sorry, but that was rediculous, wasn't it? But it didn't matter, there as a ruthlessness in his eyes that declared no mercy. Jack wanted to say something strong, give him a good kick- one last act of defiance, but he found he didn't have the strength. He felt himsel going limp, the world slipping from his grasp, as he faded into eternal darkness.

Then, suddenly, Pitch lurched- eyes popping. He released Jack, who took great, large, gasping breaths of air. The sound of it painful at first, dizziness sweeping through him as stars speckled his vision.

Air, beautiful, beautiful -air. He thought, as he felt gravity pulling him down. He let himself drop away from Pitch, before creating a rush of wind to hold him in midair- it was a lot easier now he had all of his memories back, it didn't tire him at all. What had happened? How was he still alive? He looked up, still heaving for breathe and saw an arrow sticking out of Pitch's shoulder.

Merida! How on earth had she... They were Manny knows how high up- it was a shot in a billion. If she'd anything it would have been incredible, but she actually hit her target- without hitting him- it was nothing short of an impossible miracle. But, what was with the arrow? He thought she'd have run out ages ago, but that wasn't what was amazing him- what was amazing was the fact that the arrow was glowing like a miniature sun. A starburst of golden light erupted from where it was buried in Pitch's shoulder.

The nightmares were vanishing, dissolving, as Pitch staggered forwards. He was losing strength, the nightmares were fading! But it wasn't over. Pitch might be weakened, but he wasn't finished yet.

He glared down, viciously, at the redhead who'd shot him, with a look of absolute hatred, and burning anger.  
"So you want to play with arrows, foolish girl. Well, let's play." He created a jet black arrow of his own, and aimed straight at at Merida. Jack was still breathing heavily, from his recent near death experience, but he saw what was going to happen- it was the Sandman all over again.  
"Nooo!" He yelled, diving forwards to stop it.

But he was too late. It shot down past him, and continued on its course.

Jack felt like Pitch had his throat again, he'd missed, Merida was going to die, and he'd failed to save her. He stared, horrorstruck, as the dart made its way inevitably downwards. But the arrow never hit its mark.

Someone else bent on keeping Merida safe, had taken the arrow for her.

Hiccup.

That stupidly brave, reckless idiot had jumped of the back of his dragon, and thrown himself at it as Jack had done- but rather than attempting to grab it, he'd jumped into its path, and let it sink into his own body to protect her. Jack swore he heard the sickening thump from all that distance away. He watched as his friend, slowly, pitched forwards and started falling, the black arrow half buried in his back.

"Hiccup!" He screamed. He saw Pitch aiming another arrow at Merida. No! he was not going to take away more of his friends! With a powerful battle cry, he shot an avalanche sized blast of ice at Pitch, knocking him far off into a distant mountain, and sending hundreds of giant boulders cascading down its side. Any other time, Jack would have been shocked he had that amount of power inside him, but Jack didn't even notice the rockfall he'd caused. The moment he'd sent Pitch flying, he'd dived down after Hiccup, in the plummet of his life.

His dragon, too, was flailing about in the air. Without his rider, to keep him airborne, Toothless was falling. He was desperately trying to save his master, but Hiccup's jump had pushed them too far apart- he couldn't reach him. The dragon shot a pleading look at Jack, silently begging him to save his rider. Jack continued after Hiccup, and pretty soon the dragon vanished from his sight.

Hiccup was getting closer, but so was the ground. He willed himself to go even faster, the wind screaming in his ears, he was travelling incredibly fast by now. Finally, he reached him. He reached out and caught hold of him. The arrow wound was even more horrible up close. Jack got tight hold of him, he was heavy, unconscious in his arms, he created a steady updraft, and began to slow them down. He had to be careful, didn't want to cause any more damage to his friend.

They were slowly drifting down now, safely out of the danger zone, for falling, at least- that arrow still needed urgent attention. Jack thought frantically. What should he do? Where should he go? He couldn't just let him die! How could he save him? What- Jack suddenly had his options dramatically narrowed, as a single nightmare, possibly the last one there, hit him, knocking the staff from his grasp. They sped up again.

No- the ground was too far, but too close at the same time. He wouldn't have enough time to retreive his staff, but it wasn't close enough for the impact not to not kill him. He couldn't do anything, only wait as the ground drew closer.

He positioned himself below Hiccup, so that he'd take the brunt of the impact, and cushion the fall for Hiccup- it was his only chance.

He looked down, the mountainside looked painfully rocky- not good. He closed his eyes, desperate for a blanket of snow to soften the landing, a gust of wind to slow the fall- he couldn't do either without his staff, but he had to, for Hiccup's sake. He prayed, and he focussed, but sometimes things are beyond your control. Neither came, he had failed. He could only pray, him taking the impact, would be enough to save him.

It would hurt, he'd never fallen from this height, at this speed, before- that, and the crushing weight of Hiccup landing on top of him. It would be agony- worse than the earlier impact, when he'd dived down into the cave, but he had to save his friend.

He braced himself, as the ground rushed up to meet him.


	20. Chapter 20

Memory loss chapter 20- A Secret Revealed  
A rise of the brave tangled dragons fanfic

**Authors note: Last chapter- see you at the bottom!**

Merida'd had her share of terrifying.

Almost losing her head, as each nightmare got closer and closer, with nothing but a sword to defend herself, but having to keep it together, for Rapunzel's sake- scary. Seeing Jack hanging from the Boogeyman's hand as he choked to death, his movements slowly getting weaker- horrifying. But watching, as Hiccup took that arrow for her- that took the terror to a whole new level.

He was, hurt. He was in big trouble. He could- dare she even think it- die... and he'd done it to save her. Jack had jumped for the arrow too, but Hiccup had actually taken it.

She'd watched in a sort of shocked trance, as he'd fallen towards the ground, Jack attempting to save him, only to have them both hit the ground, hard. Jack had crashed first, in an attempt to save Hiccup, and Merida felt her heart drop. Not Jack too. Hiccup on the verge of death was bad enough, but that fall... there was no way Jack would have survived that, as for Hiccup, it was too soon to tell.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Jack, slowly hitting the rocky ground... hiccup falling on top of him, only to bounce off... landing, face down, on the ground next to him... sliding a little on the loose rock... until they both came to a complete halt. All of a sudden, things became very real.

"Noooo!" She yelled, not even attempting to keep the break out of her voice. She ran towards them- that Rapunzel was following her didn't seem to register, she couldnt even hear her footsteps next to her own turmoiling thoughts. No, no, they couldn't be, no! Oh gods, Hiccup... Jack... no...

She left Rapunzel behind, as she continued her breakneck flight to reach her friends sides. When she got there, she was surprised to see Jack stirring. She almost felt relieved, but his following words got rid of any happiness she might have felt at his being alive.

"Hiccup." He muttered. She turned her attention to the brown haired boy who'd saved her life. He wasn't nearly as beaten up as Jack from the fall, but the arrow... oh gods, it was terrible. The blotch of red on his shirt, sickening vibrant next to his deathly pale skin, the size, and depth, of the wound... The sight of it just tore at her heart. Her legs would no longer support her, she collapsed on the ground by his side.

Jack dragged himself over to Hiccup's body, slowly, and painfully. He grabbed ahold of his wrist. His pulse. He might still be alive. She shoved her head by his mouth, her mass of curls completely covering his head, and listened. A weak breath of air hit her ear, she looked up at Jack nodded. She almost gasped with relief, but almost immediately remembered the state he was in. He might not be dead, but he was dying.

She held back a sob. This was all her fault, if she hadn't shot that arrow, there wouldn't have been another one he had to defend her from. She bowed her head.  
"I'm sorry." She whispered to Hiccup. "I'm so sorry." Jack looked at her.  
"It wasn't your fault." He told her. "He made his choice, and he wouldn't have changed it for anything." She realised, then, just how much he must think of her. If Hiccup was willing to give his own life to keep her safe, he obviously cared about her... a lot.

"But he's dying." She muttered, Jack's eyes fell at this, and he blinked, hard.  
"I know." He said, so quietly it was barely audible. She picked up her rescuers broken body, at held it close. She buried her head in his shoulder.  
"Hiccup." She said, a sob breaking free of her throat, more following it.

A hand gently pulled Hiccup away from her.

Suddenly, she was furious. Who was taking Hiccup away from her? He was in his final moments, she wanted to be with him right until the last. She opened her mouth, ready to shout at whoever dared pull him away, when she saw who it was.

Rapunzel. But she only looked forlorn- she wasn't broken, or sobbing. Her friend was dying, or didn't she know that? Something about her calm face reassured Merida, though.  
"Let me help." She said, and, for once, Merida was looking to her for support. She remembered the small miracle she'd performed earlier (producing a golden arrow from nowhere) and hope began to grow in her chest.

She loosened her grip on Hiccup, and let Rapunzel thread something round his chest. A part of her long, golden hair. Rapunzel reached across, and pulled it back to her, lowering it so that it parted down either side of the arrows shaft, and lay flat against his body. She pushed the remaining length of hair away from her, so it completely encircled his body.

Jack looked at her confused.  
"Rapunzel, what?" He asked, softly.  
"Shhh..." She hushed him. "Just trust me." She told them, Jack and Merida shared a look at each other, they trusted her, without a shadow of a doubt, but what was she going to do?

Rapunzel took a deep breath, and blew it out.  
"I need one of you to remove the arrow." She instructed. Alarm and confusion flashed in their eyes- surely he'd bleed to death if they removed it- but neither of them protested. Merida reached out, and took a firm grip at the bottom of the shaft.

She looked at Rapunzel, she nodded. Taking a deep breath, she pulled. Immediately, Rapunzel started singing.  
"Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine. Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine." She sang. A golden, shining glow lit the roots of her hair, and spread along it. Both Merida and Jack watched, in silent amazement, as it, slowly, reached Hiccup. "Heal what has been hurt. Change the fates design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine... what once was mine." As the song ended, the glow faded from her hair, and Merida watched Hiccup intently, hoping for some kind of miracle.

She saw something stir in his face and gasped.  
"Er, ah... what..." He muttered. "Whoa-." He began, startled, as Merida pulled him into a tight, bone breaking hug. "Er, what?" He murmured, as she released him.  
"You stupid thing!" She yelled at him, pouring out all her worry and stress. "What did you do that for?!" She demanded.  
"I, just. I didn't want to see you get hurt." He told her, cheeks colouring a little. Merida just stared at him, shaking her head a little, before shoving him, somewhat carefully, in the arm.  
"Stupid idiot." She smiled. Jack grinned up at him.  
"Good to see you back." He said, relief and joy evident in his voice. He looked at Rapunzel, confused. "But how?" He asked. Rapunzel looked a little uncomfortable, but after the affirmation of trust from the other two, she knew she could trust them in return.

"Ever since I was a baby, I've had it. The power to heal. My mother says it was a blessing from the sun, which was why she needed to keep me inside the house, where I was safe- in case people tried to cut it." She began, she clung onto a handful of it, clearly terrified at the prospect. "Because once its cut, it loses its power." She explained.  
"But... that arrow, earlier." Merida queried, Rapunzel pushed her hair back, to reveal an odd, short lock of chestnut brown hair. Jack wondered if his hair went brown if he cut it, he didn't know he'd never needed to.  
"I wrapped a piece of my hair round a broken arrow I found, and prayed it would, somehow, help... and it turned into the golden arrow." She said, Jack looked shocked- he knew how big of a deal that was.

Seeing the look on her face, and the terror the risk of it getting cut inspired in her... It must have been hard for her to do it- like if he tried to break his staff, himself- yet still she'd done it, sacrificing a bit of her power, to save him. He was moved.  
"And you did that, for me?" He marvelled, she looked at him and nodded, smiling. Jack met her eyes, silently conveying to her his gratitude.

Again with the cutesy eyes! Merida thought, and bashed into Jack, groaning dramatically. She wasn't expecting the yowl of pain that followed.  
"Jeez, Scotland, take it easy." She realised, he was still quite beat up from the fall.  
"Do you want me to do you?" Rapunzel offered.  
"Nah, I'll be fine." He declined, rolling arm in its socket, like it was just a little stiff- which reminded her.  
"Hold on. So, how come you're alright?" She asked, bewildered, like she'd thought earlier, that fall should should've killed him.

He froze, as though debating with himself whether or not they'd freak at the answer.  
"I'm, kind of.. already, dead... So... I'm pretty much... immortal, right now." He attempted to explain. Now that got her- even after the glowing, healing hair, and magically appearing dragon. Her annoying brother, was some kind of undead, immortal thing?!  
"What?!" She said, not very quietly.

Jack gave them the shortened version- he'd died saving his sister, so this ancient, magical, man in the moon person, had brought him back as the immortal winter spirit, Jack Frost. He'd gained an awesome magic staff, but also became invisible, and spent a good three hundred years alone, before he became a Guardian.

"Right so let me get this straight... you're dead, you're immortal, you're invisible, you're three hundred years old, and you're best buds with the Easter bunny and all that lot." She summed up, holding up a finger for each point.  
"Pretty much." He confirmed, Hccup shook his head.  
"Okay, that's my brain, just... blown, gone- kaput." He rambled.  
"At least you haven't freaked out." Jack commented, Hiccup replied.  
"Yeah, well, considering Rapunzel's got glowy, healy hair, and I just brought back my ancestors dragon buddy-"  
"And I just shot the boogeyman with a hair arrow." Merida added.  
"Yeah, considering that, I think we're just as weird as you are." Jack raised an eyebrow, and flicked his staff- which he'd recovered from nearby.

Hiccup suddenly found himself hanging upside down on a gust of wind.  
"Whaaa what?" He yelled.  
"Who's the biggest weirdo?" Jack asked.  
"You are!" Hiccup replied, quickly.  
"Thank you." He smirked, swinging him upright, and deposited him on the floor.  
"Your face." Merida snickered.  
"But what does that mean?" Rapunzel asked. "That you're immortal." Jack's face fell a little.

"It means I won't be able to be around the same. I won't able to live with you guys, and I'll have to leave completely for the summer... but ill still be there." He told them. They took a moment to let that sink in. Jack had been had been like a brother to all of them- now he was going to go away?  
"But... won't you be lonely?" Rapunzel asked, Jack smiled at her- he was leaving, and she was worried he wouldn't be happy. That was just, so, Rapunzel.

He noticed something behind her, and something finally clicked. It had been bothering for a while that if he chose immortality he might be alone- he wouldn't have a family anymore. But, then, he realised, perhaps he wouldn't have to be.

"You know... I don't think I will be." He said, looking behind her, to where a fancy, red sleigh had parked, a little way away, and it's occupants stood nearby, along with their two friends. They all turned to look at the assembled Guardians.

"Hey guys." Jack smiled, getting up.  
"Jack." Tooth smiled back, restraining herself a little longer, before she flew at him, and tackled him with a hug. "It's good to have you back." She murmured. Sandy beamed, happily, at him, jumping and waving his arms in the air, in joy.

Jack looked a little warily at North, as he made his way over, expecting one of his famous death hugs- and he wasn't disappointed. He said some Russian word, and pretty much strangled him.  
"Yeah, I'm happy to see you too, North." He managed to get out through clenched teeth, and then Bunny stepped forwards.

"Jack." He said as though attempting to keep things formal, but failing as he continued to speak. "Good to see ya, mate." He muttered, keeping his eyes determinedly on the floor.  
"Aww, come on now, don't get all mushy on me, kangaroo." Jack smirked, from the looks of things that's exactly what he was going to do. He crossed his arms.  
"Stupid snow head." He muttered under his breath. Jack laughed, and turned back to look at the others- a black dragon now watching with them, with large, curious eyes.  
"I don't think you've met..." He began, and so, the introductions and marvellings got underway.

At some point during which, Tooth pulled Jack aside.  
"Jack... I know you still don't remember everything." She said, being the Guardian of memories, it was pretty hard to hide that stuff from her. "Are you sure you're okay with that?" She asked him, concerned- he smiled, confident in his answer.  
"I'm sure. I know memories are part of what make you who you are- but all I'm forgetting is little random bits in the lonely years." As he now called the time before he had the Guardians. "And I'm okay with that. I know they happened, and that's enough. If anything... I could have done with a fresh start." He said, staring out over the new break of dawn. The perfect place to decide upon a fresh start.

Tooth smiled, and nodded, satisfied with this answer- before she brought things down a little.  
"And you know what will happen... eventually." She said, he knew what she meant. He nodded.  
"Yeah, but I think, that's all the more reason, to make the most of the now." He decided. She squeezed his shoulder, a silent reminder that she'll always be there for him.

They watched the others for a while. "What about Rapunzel?" She asked, Jack looked at her, confused.  
"What about her?" He queried.  
"Her lost memories." Tooth replied, Jack's eyes widened- he never knew she had lost memories, aswell!  
"Well, I guess we better give her them back." He suggested.

A few minutes later, and it turned out that Rapunzel had gotten her gift, when the sun blessed a flower to heal her mother, gifting her with the power to heal. Apparently, the sun gave this gift every few generations, to a loving and gentle heart, and Rapunzel was the latest to have it. But that wasn't all she discovered.

Gothel wasn't her mother after all, but she had kidnapped her, at a young age, when her real parents had died. She was shocked and upset about this, but, in the end, things turned out for the better.

With Jack gone, the Dunbroch household now had a spare room vacancy, and, eventually- without getting into the all the boring, legal stuff- she went to live with Hiccup and Merida, as their official foster sister.

As for Jack, things were actually a lot easier. North wiped him from the records, so that, to the government, he didn't exist. To the people who knew better, he'd gone to live with his old family, and had moved schools, so they probably wouldn't see him anymore. North also came in handy there, too- magically tricking the head teacher into thinking he'd recieved the documents regarding Jack's school change, even though he hadn't, and no one ever bothered to check up on that- whether that was North again, or just coincidence, Jack had no idea.

The only problem was Elinor and Fergus- and that was soon sorted. Pretty soon, they became joined the exclusive adult believers group. They understood the whole thing, and let him go.

So, he was now officially a wanderer, again. Flying across the world, spreading snow and stuff- just as he'd always done, but things were different this time.

He had a family to spend time with, two of them actually.

By night, and by summer, he pestered the Guardians. But, by day in winter- provided he wasn't snowball fighting with Jamie- he spent many hours with his new family, Hiccup, Merida and Rapunzel.

Every day, Fergus and Elinor waved them off, and bade them have fun on their travels. They returned from the days, buzzing, after hours of antics, and adventures. Everything from flying, to dragonback target practice, to sledding down distant mountains.

Toothless was now a full, official, member of their group. He never caused any problems, as he could only be seen by dragon believers- and if any of them did see him, well, it was just a happy surprise for them.

Merida often flew with Hiccup on Toothless, whilst Rapunzel accompanied Jack on the wind- Rapunzel because she loved the wind in her, extremely long, hair, and Merida, because she didn't trust Jack not to drop her a few hundred meters, just because she'd annoyed him. He had actually done this a few times, so she had good reason behind it. And what with the wind, a dragon, a magic ice staff, a quiver of arrows, and a healer at their side- the sky was the limit for their adventures.

Jack knew they wouldn't live forever, but right now, he was happy with his friends.

They couldn't stay young forever. But, for now, Jack knew there were races to fly, sleighs to be ridden, pranks to be played...

... and a whole lot of fun to be had.

The End

**Authors note: so that was my first big four story^^ hope you liked it- I will probably come back to this story but it won't be for a long long time- like months probably because I've got a bunch of other stuff Im working on and want to finish off first. But you guys know what this means?! **

**Dragon Friend the sequel to Dragon Boy is on the way! I'm super excited I can't wait to see what you guys think of it^^ so yeah that'll be the next story I'm posting starting Sunday (updated daily as usual) I thank those of you who've been patient for this sequel and I hope it delivers^^ if you have no idea what Im going on about I promised to post a sequel to my other main story Dragon Boy and I've finished! **

**But for Memory Loss that's all for now Thank you soooo much for every single read follow fave and an especially big hug to all the people who reviewed you all made it so worth it and really made my day so truly thanks ^^ Im really glad you loved it so much and I hope to see you with my next adventure! Until then^^ bye!**


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